The Adventures of Harry Potter Black
by zeropolis79
Summary: Harry is raised by Sirius Black with help from Moony and Tonks. Read what happens when Harry goes to Hogwarts as Dumbledore tries to get the boy under his control with comic results. Dumbledore/Ron bashing. Reposting for final time following Critics United caused deletion.
1. Chapter 1

_JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me. Jedipilot24 created the general plotline to this series, he kindly let me revive it._

**Permission from Critics United pending, I intend on reposting this series but in two forms - one with boy!Harry and the second with a girl!Harry for those who asked for it. Pairing for the boy!Harry will be changed. I will also be changing some other bits, like removing the Animagus training. The obvious omissions in the Chamber of Secrets chapters will be corrected.  
**

**The Story of Harry Potter-Black**

**Chapter 1**

**The Boy-Who-Was-Kidnapped… Or Not**

Sirius Black was flying his motorcycle as fast as it would go, hoping against hope that he wasn't too late. He had originally set out to check up on Peter's hiding place. But when Pettigrew was nowhere to be seen, Sirius assumed the worst and started flying towards Godric's Hollow. His fears had been confirmed when he felt the Fidelius charm collapse while he was still halfway there. When he got there, Sirius landed and saw a giant figure with a bundle in his arms.

"Hagrid?" the smaller man asked.

"Sirius." The giant said.

"Is that Harry?"

"Yes. Little tyke somehow survived with nought except this scar." Sirius looked at Harry's forehead to see a lightning shaped scar.

"Give him to me, Hagrid. I am his godfather - Lily and James asked me to take care of him if something ever happened to them."

"Sorry, Sirius, but I have orders from Professor Dumbledore himself. He is going to take Harry to his Muggle relatives."

"No! Hagrid, do you have any idea what they are like? They hate magic and they hate our kind. They will kill him! In fact, I specifically remember Lily and James writing in their will that the Dursleys are not to get custody of Harry under any circumstances." Hagrid shook his head.

"Dumbledore told me to bring him Harry and I will do so."

Sirius immediately hatched a plan and did his best to look sorrowful. He did not like having to do this to Hagrid, but he was not about to let Harry be raised by his magic-hating relatives. Sirius knew that Hagrid owed Dumbledore a lot and was willing to do anything for him.

"Could I at least hold Harry for a moment to say goodbye to him?" Hagrid's face softened. How could he not grant him that one wish?

"Of course." he said and handed Harry to him. The instant he did so, Sirius Apparated away, leaving behind a startled and upset Hagrid. Sirius had been taking a huge risk, Apparating with a baby. Unfortunately, he had no choice. When he arrived at one of his smaller houses, he quickly walked in and summoned the house-elf.

"I need you to take care of Harry for a few hours while I deal with a few things."

"Binky will be more than happy to take care of little Master Harry," the house-elf said and Sirius walked back outside and Apparated to Diagon Alley where he went to Gringotts and found Griphook, the Goblin who took care of the Potter accounts. After telling him what had happened, Griphook nodded.

"I'll put their wills into effect. I presume you already have Master. Potter in your care." Sirius nodded

"Yes, I need you to lock down the Black, Potter, and Gryffindor vaults. Keep the regular deposits into Harry's trust vault, but that is all. No one accesses them except for Harry and me and even then, only in person and in writing." Griphook nodded and he continued, "Also, there is a chance Dumbledore might have gotten his hands on the keys to the vaults. Can you retrieve all copies of the keys and change them, please?"

Griphook clicked his fingers and on the table in front of them, twelve keys appeared. The first four were for Sirius' vault, the second four were for the Potter vaults and the final four were for the Gryffindor vaults. Griphook clicked his fingers again and the keys instantly changed. Sirius took two of each key.

"Can Harry and I trust you to keep the rest of the keys safe, old friend?" asked Sirius.

"Of course. My father and his father have served the Potters for centuries and I will continue to serve them."

"I also want to formally adopt Harry, just to be safe." Griphook nodded again and gave him the paperwork. Sirius filled it out. Harry James Potter was now Harry James Potter-Black.

* * *

"Are you serious?" Dumbledore asked, with fury in his voice. Hagrid was reporting to Dumbledore at Number 4, Privet Drive.

"I'm afraid so, Professor. I had no idea that Sirius was going to do that," Hagrid replied.

"It's OK Hagrid – you didn't know. Did you know Sirius Black is the reason James and Lily are dead?"

"What?" Hagrid was confused.

"He was their Secret-Keeper." Hagrid began to wail then began to get into a rage.

"I can't believe that I gave little Harry to that traitor! As soon as I get my hands on him, I'll….."

"We'll find him, don't worry," Dumbledore said, trying to reassure Hagrid.

* * *

Peter Pettigrew was walking through an alley when he was startled to hear a familiar voice say "Hello, Peter." Pettigrew whirled to see Sirius Black pointing his wand at him.

"S-Sirius?" he stammered. "What's going on?"

"You know what's going on. How could you betray Lily and James?" Pettigrew swallowed and pulled out a wand. They began duelling. It was not long before the Aurors showed up. Pettigrew saw his chance and shouted, "He betrayed Lily and James."

"Liar."

Pettigrew then used the only non verbal spell he had ever mastered - _Cornat Timar_. There was a large explosion accompanied by smoke and dust. While everyone was temporarily blinded by the smoke and dust, Pettigrew cut off his finger, changed into a rat, and ran into the sewer. The smoke cleared and when the Aurors saw Pettigrew's finger, they advanced on Sirius.

"Sirius Black, you are under arrest for the murders of Lily and James Potter and Peter Pettigrew and the kidnapping of Harry Potter."

"You fools!" Sirius scowled and Apparated back to his house.

* * *

Dumbledore arrived at Gringotts and walked up to the main desk. Griphook greeted him.

"What can I do for you, Professor?" he asked.

"Sirius Black betrayed James and Lily Potter and because of it, they are dead. You are to grant me full unrestricted access to the Potter and Gryffindor vaults." Dumbledore said, not knowing he no longer had his copies of the keys.

"I was warned you might try this, Professor," Griphook replied, "Both the Potter and Gryffindor vaults are on lock-down. Neither can be accessed until further notice."

Dumbledore stormed out of the bank, temporarily foiled.

* * *

_Almost ten years later_

Harry Potter-Black woke up at promptly 7 o'clock in the morning. After spending quarter of an hour practicing his Occlumency, he took a shower, got dressed, and walked downstairs just in time to see Binky starting on breakfast. Sirius and Remus walked down several minutes later.

"Good morning, pup." said Sirius.

"Good morning, Padfoot, Uncle Moony." Remus 'Moony' Lupin wasn't really his uncle, but he was the next best thing. Just then, an owl flew in and dropped a letter on the table. It was addressed to Harry.

"It's my letter from Hogwarts. How is that possible?"

"The letters are magically written. It doesn't matter if you have been declared _Missing and presumed dead_," Remus said. They enjoyed a good laugh at this, for Harry had been declared that after a five week, fruitless manhunt by the Ministry and the Order, "As long as you aren't officially declared dead, they will be sent out."

"Wonder what they'll think when I show up with the name of the person who supposedly killed my parents?" They laughed again and then Sirius sobered.

"If you ever see Pettigrew…"

"I know what to do, dad. You've said this to me a thousand times now," Harry replied as he rolled his eyes. "I just wish I could have a go at him."

After he had eaten, Harry scrunched up his face in concentration and suddenly his hair was blonde and very neat, his eyes became blue, and his facial structure shifted slightly. His scar was now only noticeable if you knew where to look for it. Harry had worked with his cousin Tonks to develop their Metamorphmagus abilities. Sirius put some glamour's on to make him look like an older version of Harry's disguise.

Harry grabbed some floo powder and threw it on the fire. He then stepped in and said

"Diagon Alley."

Sirius followed him several seconds later.

They walked into Gringotts and were quickly greeted by Griphook, who by now was familiar with their usual disguises. The two had received special permission to use their disguises. The goblin took Harry to the vault containing his trust fund. After filling his money bag, they went to the various shops. At the trunk store, Harry got the most expensive one, with seven magically expanded compartments, anti-theft and anti-loss charms, and could shrink down to the size of a matchbox. After getting his cauldron, potions supplies, robes, telescope, and other supplies, they went to Flourish and Bott's. Harry's eyes were immediately captured by _Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much, More_) by Professor Vindictus Viridian. Sirius smiled.

"Okay, I'll let you get that, just promise that you'll only use them in self-defence."

"Of course," Harry said, looking offended.

They got a few other 'extra-curricular' books in addition to the school list. As they walked to Ollivander's, they went past Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"Too bad first years aren't allowed their own brooms," Harry sighed as he gave the Nimbus 2000 a hungry look. Sirius smiled again and shook his head.

"You really are your father's son," he said. "Tell you what, I'll get you an owl while you're looking at wands." Harry nodded and they went separate ways. Harry entered Ollivander's and waited patiently as the wand maker measured his arm and gave him a series of wands, all of which were rejected.

"Tricky customer, I see," he said as Harry laid down yet another rejected wand. After going through what seemed like half the supply, Ollivander finally handed him "eleven inches, Holly and Phoenix feather, supple." Harry flicked it and red and gold sparks shot out the end.

"Curious," Ollivander said.

"What?"

"I remember every wand I ever sold. The phoenix whose feather is in your wand, gave another feather. Just one. And that feather was in You-Know-Who's wand."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Interesting."

"Indeed it is," Ollivander said, "Indeed it is." He paused for a moment. "Will that be all?"

"I also want your best wand care kit and holster."

"Of course," he said and handed him the requested items. After Harry had paid, he walked out to see Sirius holding a cage with a snowy white owl. Harry smiled

"Thank you, Padfoot."

"What are you going to name her?"

Harry thought for a moment before replying, "Hedwig."

Please review, with thanks to my betas


	2. Chapter 2

_JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me. Jedipilot24 created the plotline to this series, he kindly let me revive it._

**AN: Critics United petitioned FFN to remove the original story. I decided not to let them win.**

**Chapter 2**

**Hoggy Warty Hogwarts**

The rest of the summer flew by. Harry studied his schoolbooks and continued the other training Sirius had put him through. He had insisted that the heir of the Black family behave like a gentleman and so had had him tutored in fencing, etiquette, several languages, including French, Spanish, and Italian. And then there was his daily exercise that he was somehow expected to continue at Hogwarts. Tonks told him all about what he could expect at Hogwarts.

"Watch out for Severus Snape," she said, "He's the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin house. He always shows favouritism towards them and Dumbledore doesn't care. You're probably going to be in Gryffindor like Padfoot and Moony, which will only make it worse. Especially since a N.E.W.T. in Potions is essential for becoming an Auror."

Harry nodded. Tonks was about to start her training to be an Auror. Sirius had told Harry that his mother Lily was a potions mistress, so he was keen as possible to do well.

"Not only that," Sirius said, "But Snape is likely to have a grudge against you."

"Why?"

"Because of your father. He saved Snape's life from a prank when we were students. This means that he owed your father a life-debt, which was transferred to you when he died. And let's just say that James and Snape were rivals."

"Ahh...I see."

Sirius appeared to want to say something else but quickly decided against it. _If I tell him that, he'll probably strangle Snape the moment he sees him. Though I would love to see Snivellus get what he deserves, he can't go around killing teachers. I'll tell him when he's older._

On the day before he left, Sirius gave him the Marauder prank notes.

"Have to carry on the tradition. You have to find three people to become the new Marauders. Your dad would hate it if you went through Hogwarts without pulling pranks while your mother would want you to do well in class," Sirius said. "We also had a special map of Hogwarts but I don't know where it is now, but the last I heard of it, it was in Filch's office."

"Too bad I'm not a bird…or look like Mrs. Norris." Tonks had told him about the caretaker's cat and the amount of trouble she got the young Tonks into. They all chuckled at this.

The following day, Harry stepped onto Platform 9 ¾. Sirius saw a family with two girls and gave them a wink that screamed conspiracy. The Hogwarts Express was nearly ready to leave. He saw a family of red heads and heard them speaking.

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." one of the boys said.

"Great idea though. Thanks, Mum," said another who looked exactly alike him.

"It's not funny. And look after Ron," the mother said.

"Don't worry; 'ickle Ronnikins is safe with us."

"Shut up," said a boy he assumed to be Ron. He was almost as tall as the twins.

Harry smiled. The two red-haired twins looked like they might make good accomplices for his pranking. They could be two of the new Marauders. As Harry made plans to become friends with those two, he stepped onto the train and found a compartment. Minutes later, the eldest girl from the family Sirius winked at came in and gave Harry the secret Marauder's handshake.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." she said.

"Mischief Managed." Harry said.

The girl was Daphne Greengrass. Her family knew the truth about Sirius and were trying to help clear his name.

After about a minute, the twins and the youngest red head walked in.

"Anyone sitting in here?" one of the twins asked. Harry shook his head and they sat down.

"I'm Fred," one of the twins said, "And this good-looking bloke is George. Oh, the runt is 'iccle Ronnikins." Ron glared scathingly at Fred.

"I'm Harry Black," the boy-who-lived said, deciding that it would be best to hide who he really was as long as possible, "this is Daphne."

"Nice to meet you, Harry, Daphne." Fred said.

"Likewise," he said and then leaned in conspiratorially, "I couldn't but help notice you talking about blowing up a toilet. Would you like help in that area?"

Fred and George exchanged looks and then gave him an appraising look.

"And what would you know about pranking?"

"Ever heard of the Marauders?"

"Who hasn't?" Fred said and produced a spare bit of old parchment. Harry's eyes bulged out for a moment, recognising it from memories, and he quickly grabbed the parchment.

"Hey…" Fred began.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry said and smiled when he read.

_Welcome oh noble son of Prongs!_

_Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs,_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

_are proud to present_

_The Marauder's Map_

"Your dad was Prongs!" Fred said and Harry nodded.

"And my godfather is Padfoot and my 'uncle' is Moony."

"Wow!" Fred.

"What about Wormtail?" George added

"Wormtail…well it's a long story but suffice it to say, he violated the Marauder code, betrayed the Marauders and can no longer call himself one," Harry said, "Mischief managed," and the map closed, "May I keep this, please?"

"Of course. We've already memorised it but we will probably ask if we can borrow it at some point," Fred said.

George added, "Anyway, we have to go now, Lee Jordan has a giant tarantula he wants to show us." Ron winced and the twins left.

"Great, just great," Ron said.

"What, Ron?"

"They're bad enough as it is, but now that Hogwarts are going to get a new set of Marauders, it's going to be absolutely unbearable."

"Oh come on. The Marauders only pranked those who deserved it. Fred and George seem to be cut from the same cloth and so am I. Those two will be perfect Marauders."

"They turned my teddy bear into a spider when I was a baby," Ron said with resent in his voice.

"And given that you are still complaining about it, you no doubt deserved it." Ron opened his mouth to reply when a round-faced boy sauntered in.

"I'm Neville Longbottom," he said in a tone that screamed 'pompous self opinionated idiot'. From what Tonks told Harry, Dumbledore was trying to make Neville out to be the second coming although Harry was officially the Boy-Who-Lived. At least once a month, Dumbledore brought Neville into the Great Hall and paraded him as his replacement as 'Leader of the Light' when Dumbledore died.

Ron gaped and said. "I'm Ron Weasley; please sit down." Neville gave a brief smile and sat down next to Ron. Harry merely shook his head. _Looks I'm going to have a lot of fun._

"I'm Harry Black."

"I'm Daphne Greengrass."

"Black? Greengrass?" Neville crinkled his nose, "I heard the Blacks are a nothing more than a bunch of dark wizards and the Greengrasses are their apprentices."

"Yes, we are. Would you care for a demonstration?" he said with completely straight face. Though it was true that the Blacks were known for their dark witches and wizards, Sirius and he were exceptions. He didn't blame Neville for feeling bitter about the Blacks. Bellatrix Lestrange had come from the House of Black after all.

Neville and Ron's eyes went wide and they began squirming. This time, Harry couldn't refrain from laughing. Sirius and Remus had showed him the spell books in the library at Grimmauld Place so that he would know what he was up against if he ever had to fight a dark wizard. Harry wondered for a moment if he was capable of actually using those spells before quickly shelving the thought. _They would be ashamed of me! Sirius said that my dad absolutely despised anyone who used the dark arts. _

Just then, the compartment door opened to reveal a girl with bushy brown hair, brown eyes and rather large front teeth. "May I sit here, please?" Harry nodded. Ron and Neville said nothing and she sat down next to Harry and held out her hand.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said in a bossy sort of tone.

"Harry Black," he replied. Daphne also introduced herself. Ron and Neville continued to ignore her. "So, tell me about yourself," He said, deliberately ignoring Neville and Ron's glares.

"My parents are dentists. I really didn't know what to make of all my 'accidents' until Professor McGonagall showed up and told me I was a witch. Naturally, I was a little sceptical at first, but then she made something fly around the room and..." Hermione shrugged and he nodded.

"Do you have any idea what house you are going to be in?" Harry asked.

"I like Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw also seems nice since it's supposed to be where all the smart students go."

"I'm probably going to be in Gryffindor. My parents were in it too and these things tend to run in families."

Ron and Neville gave Harry a strange look but he ignored it. They _knew_ that the Black family had been in Slytherin for centuries. The compartment door opened again revealing a pale-faced boy flanked by two fat boys, who were obviously his bodyguards.

"Well…what do we have here? I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron sniggered.

"Something funny about my name?" Malfoy asked, "Red hair, freckles, hand-me-down robes…you're a Weasley."

"And you're just a Death Eater in training," Harry calmly said.

"And just who do you think you are?" Malfoy snapped.

"Harry Black," he said, "I believe, that in the pureblood hierarchy, the Blacks are well above the Malfoys. Am I right?" Harry smiled, concealing the fact that he was actually half-blood. He could have some fun here. Malfoy swallowed. Not only did the Black Family date clear back to the Middle Ages, but their collection of dark arts spell-books dated back even further, long before the Malfoys. "also, I believe that your father married into the Black family and as a minor family, the head of the House of Black is your superior."

"I-I'm sorry. I did not know," Malfoy stammered and beat a hasty retreat.

Harry chuckled and sat back. Hermione looked at him curiously and he shrugged.

"Don't worry, Hermione," he said. "I don't buy all that pureblood garbage. I just had to put Ferret Face in his place before he spouted all that rubbish about the purebloods and it was either that or hex him into oblivion, which would hardly be a good way to start out the school year. Don't you agree?"

Hermione nodded. "That would've been very bad." She paused for a moment. "Could you have hexed him?"

"Sure," Harry casually said, "Not only have I already memorized my school books, but I got a few more for extra reading." Ron and Neville shook their heads as if Harry had committed a major crime. Hermione's eyes went wide. Never before had she known someone else to memorise all the school books, let alone buy extra ones.

"Really? I love reading, too."

The lunch trolley came by. Harry offered to buy Hermione sweets but she said, "No thank you; my parents wouldn't approve." Harry shrugged and got a few Chocolate Frogs for himself. His first one was Dumbledore.

The Sorting Hat finished singing and the whole hall burst into applause. McGonagall began calling out the names of the first years. Hermione and Neville were both sorted into Gryffindor. Daphne went into Slytherin. No one was surprised when Malfoy also went into Slytherin.

"Potter-Black, Harry" McGonagall called out. There was dead silence in the Great Hall for a moment and then the whispers and murmurs began. Most of them said to their friends that they had heard (from Dumbledore) Sirius Black had murdered Harry while other rumours stated that Sirius was teaching Harry to embrace the Dark Arts (also from Dumbledore). Harry ignored them and resolutely strode towards the hat and put it on.

"_Hmm…difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. A sharp mind, yes. There's talent and a nice thirst to prove yourself…what do I see…oh you are very cunning and determined. If only I could sort you into every house. Which do you want? Gryffindor? Are you sure? You would do well in Slytherin. You could be great and Slytherin would help you on the way, no doubt about that._"

"Not Slytherin!"

"_Oh, all right. If you're sure… "GRYFFINDOR!_"

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers. The Weasley twins began shouting, "We got Potter. We got Potter!" Harry took the hat off, walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Hermione.

Several minutes later, after Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor, the feast began. As they ate, Hermione said, "You never told us you were Harry Potter."

"Yeah," Fred said, "I feel cheated."

"I never saw the reason to. Besides, I wanted to befriend people who actually liked me, rather than just because I'm famous."

"Understandable," George said. "So, you've been raised and adopted by Sirius Black. Did you know that he…"

"Did not betray my parents. That was Peter Pettigrew."

"Pettigrew is dead," Fred said.

"I highly doubt that," Harry replied and suddenly made eye contact with Professor Quirrell.

A sharp, hot pain shot across his scar. Harry reflexively raised his Occlumency shields and the pain started to dull. _What __the hell was that?_ He wondered before resuming his eating, making a note to keep an eye on Quirrell.

When everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore stood to make some announcements.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," he said, his twinkling eyes flashing in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by the caretaker, Mr. Filch, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

Harry rolled his eyes at this. _Like anyone was going to obey that rule._

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry laughed, one a very few who did.

After they had sung the school song, Dumbledore dismissed them. Percy stood up and led the Gryffindor first years to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?"

"Caput Draconis." The portrait swung aside and they stepped into the common room.

Percy pointed out the boys and girls sets of stairs and warned them not to try to mix. Harry started up the stairs but paused when McGonagall came tearing into the common room.

"Mr. Potter."

"Yes, Professor?"

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to see you immediately."

Harry wondered at what he had done but then remembered what Sirius had told him about Dumbledore wanting to leave him with his Muggle relatives and he might try to send him there. _Better get this over with,_ he thought before following her through the corridors to a gargoyle.

"Lemon drop," McGonagall said and the gargoyle got up and walked aside.

McGonagall led Harry up the stairs and down a corridor to a door. Harry walked in and was greeted by Dumbledore.

"Hello, Harry," the headmaster said with a twinkle in his eyes that caused Harry to strengthen his Occlumency shields.

"Hello, Professor," he said, deciding to play dumb, "Why did you call me here?"

"I must tell you that Sirius Black betrayed your parents to Voldemort."

"Really?" Harry said. "The way he tells it, it was Peter Pettigrew."

"How convenient to blame a dead man." Harry felt something collide with his shields and strengthened them even more.

"Sir, I really doubt that he is dead. The way Sirius tells it, Peter practically admitted it before the Aurors arrived but when they did arrive, he conveniently said that Sirius caused my parent's deaths. Sirius swears that after the explosion, he saw Peter."

Dumbledore mused on things for a moment. "Still, I must get you to a much safer environment. I will see if I can have Minister Fudge revoke his guardianship of you and I can send you to your Muggle relatives."

"No!" Harry declared. Dumbledore merely twinkled his eyes even more.

"I know that's what you may think now, but soon you will thank me for it."

It was taking all his self-control to keep his temper.

"Where is Sirius?" Dumbledore asked and Harry again felt something collide with his shields. They buckled and nearly collapsed.

"I don't know, sir," Dumbledore shrugged.

"Of course not, he must have been very careful not to tell you so wouldn't try to escape."

"Sir, you have given me a great deal to think about," Harry said, with gritted teeth, "In the meantime, please refrain from trying to rape my mind in future." Dumbledore ignored the young man's last remark.

"Then you may go back to the common room. Care for a lemon drop?" Harry shook his head and quickly left. _You bastard!_ He thought as he walked back to Gryffindor tower. _You manipulating, conniving, goat-fucking bastard_! Harry walked into his dormitory and saw Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus waiting for him.

"Well?" Neville asked

"Well, what?" Harry said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"What happened? What did you do to get summoned before Dumbledore when classes haven't even begun yet?"

"He just wanted to tell me a few things and make sure that I was alright. After, all I was raised by Sirius Black," Harry said, testing the waters.

There were looks of commiseration and sympathy among all of them, but especially Neville and Ron. Harry would've loved to keep a low profile, but his fame made that impossible. Before going to bed, Ron bowed to Neville. _Oh, well_, Harry thought and fell asleep.

Please review, with thanks to my beta witowsmp


	3. Chapter 3

_JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me._

_This is a revival of Jedipilot's Harry Black series but with improvements and new material. Oh, Dumbles will get what's coming to him eventually, but Harry will need to build up evidence. As for the question as to WHY Harry is attending Hogwarts, it will be explained. For fans of my other material, hopefully, the sequel to Magical Archeologist will begin after the New Year and Thundercats Ho! is still being worked on. The latest chapter of which will be uploaded this week._

**Chapter Three**

**Classes**

Harry woke up and meditated for longer than normal. He knew that he had only survived his encounter with Dumbledore the previous day because the headmaster had not been expecting him to know Occlumency, and because Sirius had had him practicing it for as long as he could remember. Now, he knew why. Harry opened his eyes and wrote a letter to Sirius, explaining what had happened. He then looked up and immediately spied a rat on Ron's bed. This was a rat that Sirius and Remus had shown him countless times in a Pensieve. He came up with a plan to unmask him in public with countless witnesses.

The first year Gryffindors had Transfiguration later that day. They had been asked to being their pets. Harry brought Hedwig with him while Ron had brought his rat.

Harry sat next to Hermione and Daphne, who of course didn't have a pet to bring to class.

McGonagall began her lecture on transfiguring animals into objects when Harry raised his hand.

"What is it, Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"Professor, is there a way to force an Animagus back into their human form?" he asked. He had a plan in mind and this was the best place to carry it out, especially seeing there were dozens of witnesses.

"Why do you ask, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked.

"I read about them, maybe having an interest in becoming one myself at some point, but the book I read never said anything about forcing one in their animal form to return to their human form in case of emergencies," Harry answered. "I thought I'd ask you about it because it is a form of transfiguration and I'm told you are the best person to ask about it." Harry had chosen his words well.

"Very well, Mr. Potter. I will demonstrate the spell, although it won't do anything," McGonagall said.

"May I suggest Ron's pet, Professor? It is a small creature so it shouldn't hurt."

McGonagall took Ron's rat and held it out by its tail. She pointed her wand at it and cast a spell. She was the first to show surprise when everyone saw the rat transform before their eyes.

The creature grew in size and became human. The person's features resembled that of a rat, as if the person had been in that form for years. McGonagall looked at the man in shock, recognising him.

"Peter Pettigrew!" she shouted.

"It can't be!" one person shouted.

"Sirius Black killed him!" another person shouted.

For once, Professor McGonagall was silent. She was shocked and stunned. She, like everyone else in the Wizarding world, had believed him to be dead. Before she could stun him, Pettigrew transformed back into a rat and ran off.

As soon as she had recovered, McGonagall dismissed the class. Hermione was walking with Harry and Daphne.

"You knew what was going to happen, didn't you?" Hermione asked noting the lack of surprise on Harry's face.

"I suspected something like it. Sirius had shown me memories of Pettigrew in his rat form and Ron's rat looked just like him." Harry explained to Hermione what Peter had done.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Hermione asked.

"I couldn't prove anything. If I went to Dumbledore or McGonagall and said to them, _I believe Peter Pettigrew is here at Hogwarts as someone's pet_, they would think I was going mad. Being raised by Sirius has worked against me."

"Hermione, for ten years, Dumbledore had people believe Sirius Black had kidnapped and either murdered Harry or was training him to replace Voldemort. This is despite the fact that Lord and Lady Potter's wills stated that in the event of their deaths, Harry was to go to either Sirius or my parents, witnessed by two neutral parties," Daphne said, not afraid to say the name, "My parents have been trying to help him clear his name."

Harry willed himself to ignore the stares he was receiving, especially Neville's look of undiluted jealousy. "If you don't want to hang out with me, that's alright," Harry said to Hermione.

Hermione sighed. "Harry, there's no one I would rather hang out with. You're the only one I can really count as a friend." Harry's eyes went wide and everything he did was a forced movement.

The very next day, Harry got a reply from Sirius. Harry had written to him first thing that morning telling him about Dumbledore's attempts at using Occlumency on him.

_Dear Prongs Jr,_

_I can't believe that he would stoop to that level! This only confirms what I already suspect about him. Whatever you do, Harry, steer clear of him. Don't let yourself owe him anything because he'll just use that to get to you, and through you, me._

_Padfoot_

In the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Harry's initial suspicion of Quirrel only intensified when he saw how incompetent Quirrel seemed to be. On Friday, he got a letter from Hagrid.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know you have Fridays off, so would you like to come by my house for a cup of tea? I need to speak with you about something._

_Hagrid_

Harry wrote back.

_Sure, I'll be there._

_Harry_

He gave the letter to Hedwig as well as a piece of bacon and she hooted happily before flying out.

_Later that day..._

"Potter!" Snape said in Potions. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"A sleeping potion so powerful it is called the Draught of the Living Death, sir." Snape looked a little shocked but continued.

"Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"The stomach of a goat, sir. It can protect you from most poisons." Snape's shock increased. He never expected Harry to be able to answer these questions. He thought Harry would be like his father and godfather and only read the bare minimum.

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Harry smiled. He had learned _this_ information years ago. It was one of the benefits of living with a werewolf.

"They're the same plant and it's also called aconite," Harry calmly replied as he met Snape's gaze without blinking.

"Longbottom!" Snape suddenly said, turning his attention to Neville, "What are Jobberknoll feathers used for?"

"I-I don't know." Snape gave a wicked smile. He could see a golden opportunity to deduct points.

"Apparently, fame isn't everything, after all. What are the effects of Re'em blood when drunken?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Dare I even ask what a boomslang is?"

"I don't know, sir?"

"Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. You think that just because you weren't tortured for some reason and because Dumbledore took you under his wing, that you are somehow special?"

Longbottom recovered his courage. "Yes, sir. I am the second coming. Everyone must bow to me." Snape gave Neville a look that said _if it wasn't for the old man, I'd force feed you poison. _

"Mr. Potter," Snape said, "Since you appear to have read ahead, maybe you could answer the questions."

"Jobberknoll parts are used in memory potions and truth serums, Re'em blood gives its drinker immense strength and a boomslang is a very poisonous African snake," Harry said.

"Potter - ten points to Gryffindor for reading ahead. Longbottom - thirty points from Gryffindor for not being prepared and thirty points from Gryffindor plus detention for having delusions." Snape said.

As the lesson progressed, Neville's incompetence was revealed even more as he spilled the cauldron and got soaked in his incorrectly made potion, which caused angry red boils to spring up all over his arms and legs. It appeared that Dumbledore hadn't taught him anything.

"Idiot, boy!" Snape said as he cleared the spoiled potion with a flick of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered in pain.

"Take him to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus and turned to and turned to Harry who was on the table in front with Daphne, both of which were working on their own potion. He could not punish Harry without punishing his snake. He saw Ron sitting next to were Neville was sitting.

"Weasley, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought to make him look like an even bigger fool to try and restore your family's good name? Five points from Gryffindor."

That afternoon, Harry, Daphne and Hermione knocked on Hagrid's door. Hagrid opened it and let them in.

"I want to say, Harry, that I'm so sorry." Hagrid said, after he served drinks and (literally) rock cakes.

"For what?" Harry asked.

"I'm the reason Sirius Black took you."

"And I'm supposed to be upset about that? I should thank you."

"He betrayed your parents?"

"No, that was Peter Pettigrew. How many times do I have to say it? Haven't you heard about what happened in class the other day?" Harry practically shouted.

Hagrid thought about things for a moment. "I believe you, Harry," he said after a while. McGongall had told him about it.

He noticed a clipping from the Daily Prophet concerning a recent attempt to break into Gringotts. The interesting thing about it was that the vault in question had been emptied earlier in the day. The very same day that he and Sirius had gone to buy their school supplies. _Odd, _he thought, _Very odd. Why would Hagrid keep this clipping laying around…unless he was somehow involved or is it meant for someone to be see?_

Harry really doubted that Hagrid was the one who broke in for the simple reason that it would've taken magic far more powerful than he was capable of doing. _Not to mention the fact that he probably doesn't have the brains to attempt something like that._ Hagrid wasn't the one who broke in._ But what if he's the one who emptied the vault?_

Now that he thought about it, he _had_ seen Hagrid at Gringotts that day, though he hadn't known who he was at the time and had thought nothing of it until now. Sirius had told him Dumbledore got Hagrid to run errands for him._ I wonder what was in it. Whatever it is must have been very valuable for someone to try to break into Gringotts._ Harry made a mental note to look into it later and glanced at Hermione and Daphne who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"What did you do to Scabbers?" Ron demanded that evening.

"I didn't do anything. It's not my fault he turned out to be an unregistered Animagus…" Ron cut him off with a punch in the face and soon they were brawling on the floor.

Hermione stepped into the common room and said in a shocked voice, "Stop that now before Percy gets here!"

"He arranged for that just to embarrass me!" Ron said as they stood up.

"I did not!"

"Harry?" Hermione said.

"You saw McGonagall's reaction. Pettigrew is an illegal Animagus!"

"How do you know? Did Sirius Black tell you? He killed your parents then Pettigrew!" Ron shouted.

"How do you know? Dumbledore sure made those announcements but he didn't see a thing. Sirius Black is innocent of all charges!" Harry said, stomping out of the common room. Hermione followed him.

"Can you prove it to anyone in authority?" she asked. Harry took a photo out of his pocket. It was of the Marauders transforming into their animal forms.

"It's useless now that Pettigrew's gone," Harry replied. "More than likely, he's gone off to find some other pure-blood family like the Malfoys…"

Finally, Hermione said, "Why didn't you go to McGonagall?"

"Because neither she nor anyone else would've believed me. Not when they think that Sirius is a murderer and a kidnapper."

"And he is," a new voice said. Harry and Hermione turned to see Minister Fudge and Dumbledore.

"Come on, Harry," Fudge said as if talking to a favoured nephew. "Tell us where Sirius is, I promise I won't let him hurt you."

"Sirius would rather die than hurt me!"

"Harry," Fudge said, "I know this is probably going to be hard to accept, after all he's raised you all these years, but Black is a criminal who deserves the Dementor's kiss. Even if he didn't kill Peter Pettigrew, he did betray your parents to their death."

"No!" Harry shouted, starting to loose his temper again and Fudge merely smiled and addressed Harry as if he was a nephew; "As I said, it's going to be hard to accept…"

"And you can go to hell as far as I am concerned!" Harry said and felt a charm collide against his Occlumency shields and, as before, absorbed it.

"Harry, calm down," Dumbledore said in his best grandfather tone, "And tell me where he is." Harry forced his temper back down and regained his normal aloofness.

"Oh, I could tell you where we lived, but where he is now I'm at school, I have no idea," Harry said truthfully. Dumbledore seemed satisfied and nodded.

"We should've known," he said before he and Fudge walked off, shaking their heads in disappointment and muttering something about, "checking Black's houses that aren't under Fidelius." The Black's paranoia were well known. Harry started to run back towards Gryffindor Tower when Hermione grabbed him.

"What was that all about, Harry?" Hermione asked

"Let's just say, Dumbledore isn't what he seems to be." Harry looked around and then whispered into her ear, "But Sirius taught me how to protect my mind from external influence."

"Can you teach me?"

"Probably," Harry said. "So you believe me, now?"

"After seeing what just happened, I'm starting to, yes."

Harry decided it was time for a council of war. After using the map to find Daphne and sending a house elf to collect her, the trio went into a secluded classroom. Harry pulled out a mirror and said "Snuffles." Sirius's face instantly appeared in the mirror.

"Hello, Harry; how are things at school, and who is this pretty girl?" The bushy-haired girl blushed. Daphne giggled.

"This is Hermione. And things at school aren't going good at all," Harry said and told him about his conversation with Dumbledore and Fudge.

"You're right, this is very bad. I will find a certain hiding place. I think you know which one I'm talking about?" Harry nodded and he continued, "Andromeda's invited you to spend Christmas with her, Ted and Nymph. Have you found the rat?"

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I had him within my grasp. I managed to trick McGonagall into exposing him, but before anyone could do anything, he transformed back and made a run for it, probably to one of the _families_." Sirius nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry; I should've been more direct…"

"Don't blame yourself, Harry. I was direct when I went after him ten years ago and look what almost happened. You did the right thing, trying to expose him in front of witnesses."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded.

"If the headmaster is so bad," Hermione asked, "why allow Harry to come here?"

"Last year, Dumbledore used his influence to pass a law saying that if heirs to a major family do not attend Hogwarts, their names, properties and monies are all forfeit and any guardians who refuse to send their heirs to Hogwarts will face major prison time." Sirius explained.

After several more minutes of discussing classes and introducing Hermione properly, Harry put the mirror away. He was going to keep Dumbledore's attempts at mind rape to himself for now.

By the following day, Malfoy was back to his normal, bullying self. Whether it was because he had discovered the truth about Harry or simply a matter of social recovery (either that or he got his mother, being a Black, to tell him about the family), Harry did not know. Nor did he really care as he now had an excuse to start pranking him.

Their first flying lesson was at 3:30 that afternoon. As Madam Hooch was telling them to do a gentle take off, Hermione, full of nerves, took off. She went crazy on the broom. Without thinking, Harry got onto his broom and took off. Scared, Hermione flew upside down and in panic, let go of her broom. Harry flew to her and grabbed her hand. With great difficulty, he managed to get back to the ground. He dropped Hermione onto the ground (she only fell a couple of inches) so he could land.

"HARRY POTTER!" Professor McGonagall's loud voice shouted.

Please review, with thanks to my betas


	4. Chapter 4

_JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me._

_This is a revival of Jedipilot's Harry Black series but with improvements and new material._

**A few people had questions about Neville. Dumbledore manipulated and moulded him into the spoiled brat he is in this story. I'm afraid Neville will never be a good guy in this fic. But don't worry, Neville will be a good guy in my other stuff.**

**Chapter Four**

**The Long Game**

Harry was expecting to get expelled, or at the very least detention. Instead, McGonagall took him and introduced him to Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and then announced that she had found a new Seeker for Gryffindor. To say that Harry was shocked would be an understatement. Wood, however, seemed impressed by what McGonagall told him about Harry's flying abilities.

"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore about bending the first years rule," McGonagall said and Harry's smile disappeared and he went as white as sheet. _Oh damn! I've really done it this time!_

"Is something wrong, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked and Harry quickly shook his head

"No; nothing," he said. They gave him a strange look and then shrugged.

"You're the Seeker!" Hermione said. The two with Daphne were in a deserted corridor. "But first years aren't allowed."

"No-one says first years aren't allowed," Daphne said, "they're just not allowed to bring brooms into school."

"Unless they get permission from the Headmaster." Harry added.

"What are…oh no!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, that's what its looking like," Harry said and pulled out his mirror. "Snuffles." Sirius's face appeared and smiled.

"How are things going, Harry?"

"I have good news and bad news."

"Well, let's hear it."

"The good news is that I've been selected to be the Seeker for the Gryffindor team."

"You what? How?" Harry related the incident and Sirius frowned.

"I take it that that's the bad news?"

"Yeah. Are you still safe?"

"Yes, and I will continue to remain here until I am sure that I can return."

"You know that I'm going to have to give up the address of one of your houses…"

"And you don't know which ones they haven't searched?" Harry nodded "Well you don't have to. Just give him one of the unused addresses, and as long as he doesn't penetrate your shields, he'll think that I've gone into hiding if nothing turns up."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, "Alright; I'll do that. Keep your fingers crossed."

"I will. Talk to you later," Sirius's face faded and Harry put the mirror away and turned back to Hermione.

"I really should start teaching you Occlumency and Legilimency..." He stopped when Dumbledore came around the corner.

"Harry, I need to talk with you in private." Harry nodded and followed him to an empty classroom.

"I hear Professor McGonagall really wants you to be Gryffindor's new Seeker. I can make that happen, but…" There was a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes and he entered Harry's mind. Harry knew what he was searching for and projected the appropriate false memories. It was helped by the fact that they were based on real ones. Dumbledore's face turned sour when he saw the addresses – _Already searched! _

"Did you say something, Professor?" Harry asked, trying to play dumb.

"Yes, I'm afraid that I cannot grant her request. First years have not been permitted on the team since my predecessor and I'm afraid I can't make an exception for you, even if you are the Boy-Who-Lived. If I allowed you on the team, I would have to let other first years try out for their house teams."

"I understand, Professor, but you do know that there is no rule about first years on teh team, but just first years bringing brooms." Harry said, knowing that Dumbledore was refusing the request because he hadn't got what he wanted. The headmaster excused his student who then went to find Hermione. He told her what had happened and she nodded.

"You really _have_ to teach me that," she said.

Harry and Hermione stepped into the Gryffindor common room and were met with stares and murmurs.

"What happened, Potter?" Neville asked eagerly. "Did you get expelled?"

"No," Harry said and hid a smile.

"So, what happened?" Dean asked "What punishment did you get?"

"I didn't get one. In fact, Professor McGonagall tried to convince Dumbledore to let me be the Gryffindor Seeker," Harry smoothly lied, knowing that they couldn't handle the truth. He then wandlessly cast one of the charms that Sirius had taught him. Neville suddenly let out a massive fart and the other Gryffindors began laughing at him, making Neville turn an interesting shade of red. Even Hermione was cracking up at him and a thoroughly humiliated Neville ran upstairs.

That night, at dinner, Malfoy challenged Harry to a wizard's duel at midnight in the trophy room. Hermione, to Harry's great surprise, volunteered to be his second. Harry told her that honour had to be satisfied. And so, that night, Harry and Hermione snuck out of the common room. They then proceeded to the trophy room and waited impatiently. Midnight struck and Malfoy was nowhere in sight. Suddenly the heard a noise in the next room.

"Sniff around, my sweet. They might be lurking in a corner," said the voice of Argus Filch. Harry and Hermione ran like they'd never run before down the Charms corridor where they had an encounter with Peeves the Poltergeist, who began yelling,

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

At the end of the corridor was a locked door. Hermione pointed her wand at it and whispered "_Alohomora_!" The lock clicked and the door swung open. They went in, shut the door, and pressed their ears to it. Peeves, apparently had a change of heart about getting them into trouble and told off Filch. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and turned to see a corridor. The third floor corridor. And now they knew why it was forbidden because they were staring into the eyes of a monstrous three-headed dog, which began growling. Harry backed up and groped for the doorknob. They fell back and Harry slammed it shut. The duo began running and didn't stop until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who fortunately had returned.

"Where on earth have you been?" she asked.

"Never mind that, pig snout!" Harry said. The portrait swung open and they scrambled into the common room and collapsed into the chairs.

Hermione, who had gotten both her breath and her temper back, said "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"I noticed something." Harry said..

"There was a trap door," Hermione said, glaring at him. "Obviously, it's guarding something. "I'm going to bed!" she said, stomping up the stairs.

On the way to breakfast the following morning, Harry was stopped by Professor McGonagall who took him into an empty classroom.

"I saw what happened with you and the Headmaster yesterday Potter. I don't think it is right for him to deny things for students because he can't get his own way. He of all people should know that only a Secret Keeper can reveal any secrets kept under Fidelius. I spoke to the school Governors last night and they have decided to go over Dumbledore's head and have given you permission to obtain your own broom so you can join the Quidditch team."

"Thank you Professor." Harry said.

"You're welcome Potter. Now I want to see you do well – I would like to see that trophy in my office at the end of the year."

Malfoy was quite surprised to see that Harry and Hermione were alive and still in school at breakfast. Harry began speculating in his spare time just what the dog might be guarding. '_It must be very valuable,'_ he thought and remembered the newspaper clipping in Hagrid's hut. _What do they say? The only place safer than Gringotts is Hogwarts?_ Harry was now almost positive that Hagrid had emptied the vault that day and that whatever had been in it was now being guarded by that three headed dog. However, neither he nor Hermione had any idea as to what it might be.

Just then, the Great Hall was flooded with owls. A bevy of them dropped a bundle in front of Harry along with a two notes. Harry opened them first.

_Dear Pup,_

_This is your new broom, have fun and beat Slytherin. Make sure you get plenty of memories to show Nymphadora, Moony and me._

_Padfoot_

The second letter read,

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session. Try not to advertise the fact that you have a broom or everyone else will also want one._

_Professor McGonagall_

Harry did not open the package until he was in his dormitory and smiled when he saw that it was a Nimbus 2000. Harry gleefully ran his hands over the slim handle. It was just begging to be flown.

When seven o'clock neared, Harry went down to the field and began flying around the goal posts and up and down the field. The Nimbus moved at his slightest touch and he had never been this happy before. A voice interrupted him,

"Hey, Potter, come down," Oliver said and Harry gently flew down and landed next to him.

"Very nice," he said with a glint in his eyes, "I can see what McGonagall meant. You really are a natural." Wood then began explaining Quidditch. Harry calmly listened, even though he already knew the rules. After that, they began practicing with golf balls. Harry caught every single one and Wood seemed proud.

"That Quidditch cup will have our name on it this year for sure," he said. "I would not be surprised if you turned out better than Charlie Weasley. He could've played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

The weeks flew by. Hermione made quick progress in Occlumency and Legilimency, and though she hadn't quite caught up to Harry and Daphne, she wasn't very far behind either. Neville and Ron became Harry's new targets for pranks, though Draco didn't exactly get much of a respite either. One night, Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map took shape and Harry's eyes went wide when he saw _Peter Pettigrew_ right next to _Quirrel._

_What the hell?_ He thought, '_Why would Pettigrew go to Quirrel…unless Quirrel was a Death Eater.'_ But that didn't make sense since Snape was also an ex-Death Eater.

Harry made his way out of the Tower and towards Quirrell's room. It was locked and the _Alohomora_ charm did not work against it. Disheartened, Harry went back to bed.

Halloween came a lot sooner than he would've liked. So far, Pettigrew hadn't left Quirrell's room and the professor renewed the locking charm on it fairly often. In charms that day, they learned the flying charm. Harry ended up partnered with Seamus Finnegan, who was a fairly decent fellow despite hanging out with Neville a little too much. Hermione, however, was paired with Ron, who was failing miserably at the charm. Hermione tried to help him

"You're saying it wrong," she snapped "It's Wing-_gar_-dium Levi-_o_-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it then," Ron snarled, "if you're so clever."

"Fine," Hermione rolled up her sleeves, "_Wingardium Leviosa._" The feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick as he clapped "Everyone look, Miss. Granger's done it." Harry gave her a smile and then said, "_Wingardium Leviosa._"

His feather floated up to join Hermione's and Flitwick was impressed.

"Well done, Mr. Black." Flitwick said and Harry's eyes went wide. Most people called him Potter not Black, as if they were trying to ignore the fact that he had been raised by Sirius. He wondered why Flitwick was different in this regard.

"Well done," Flitwick continued, "Five points for Gryffindor."

After the bell rang, Harry stayed behind and told Hermione that he would be along shortly.

"What is it, Harry?" Flitwick asked.

"I want to know, just out of curiosity, why called me Black instead of Potter," he began. "Everyone else calls me Potter and pretends that Sirius doesn't exist. Drives me nuts, really, but there doesn't seem to be much I can do about that right now."

Flitwick smiled at him and said, "The reason I called you Black is because I was the one who performed the Fidelius Charm on your parents, which means that I know that Sirius is innocent. I tried to convince Dumbledore and the Ministry of it, but they wouldn't listen. They told me that if I persisted in rumour mongering, I would find myself in Azkaban with Sirius."

Harry began thinking for a moment and decided that he could trust Flitwick.

"What if I told you that Pettigrew was in the castle at this very moment," he said.

"What do you mean?" Flitwick asked "Pettigrew is dead. Sirius killed him."

"I wish, believe me. But, unfortunately, no. Pettigrew, you see, is an illegal Animagus. His form is a rat."

"And how would you know that?" Flitwick asked.

"Because Sirius, Lupin and my father helped him become one," Harry said. "Did you hear about the incident where Pettigrew was forced out of his Animagus form in Transfiguration?"

"I heard of the incident but the Headmaster denied it happened. I've heard from my Ravenclaws that when they tried to send letters home about it, they were returned unsent, so I'd be careful."

"Ever heard of the Marauders?" he asked and when Flitwick nodded, he pulled out the map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He said. When the map formed, Flitwick was astonished to see Pettigrew in Quirrell's room.

"I do not understand," he said.

"Neither do I," Harry said. "You wouldn't happen to know if he was a Death Eater during the war?"

"No," Flitwick said. "He wasn't."

"Well this just gets more and more complicated," Harry sighed. "I've tried getting into Quirrell's room but apparently it's sealed with more than your basic Locking Charm."

Flitwick didn't know what to think of this. On the one hand, even trying to break into a teacher's room was enough for a month of detention. On the other hand, Harry was trying to bring a criminal and traitor to justice.

"I shall tell Professor Dumbledore at once," Flitwick said.

"Good luck," Harry said and went off to the Halloween feast. Hermione was nowhere to be seen. Harry asked Parvati where she was and she said that Ron had insulted Hermione and that she was in the girl's bathroom, crying and added that she wanted to be left alone. Daphne had tried to get her out but failed. Harry started to get up just as Professor Quirrel came sprinting into the Great Hall.

"Troll…in the dungeons….just thought you should know…" he said before fainting. Harry eyed him suspiciously, ignoring the uproar. Dumbledore called for the prefects to lead their houses back to the dormitories. Harry realized that Hermione did not know about the troll and snuck away from the other first years when Percy wasn't looking. As he made his way to the girls' bathroom, Harry had to hide behind a stone griffin from Snape.

_What is he doing here?_ Harry abruptly realized that Snape was heading in the general direction of the third floor corridor. _This is just getting more and more tangled._

Harry reached the bathroom just in time to see the troll go in. '_Hermione!'_ He thought and ran in after it, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, ugly!" he yelled out. The troll heard his voice and turned to head towards him. Harry said the first spell that came to his mind.

"_Wingardium Leviosa._"

The troll's club flew out of his hand, rose high in the air and then suddenly dropped onto the troll's head. It fell to the ground with a thud that shook the entire room. Harry put his wand away and grabbed Hermione.

"Is it dead?" Hermione asked.

"Probably not," Harry replied. "We have to get out of here, now," he said just as they heard footsteps. Professor McGonagall furiously burst into the bathroom.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" she said. "You were lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"I realized that Hermione did not know about the troll," Harry said, "and so I came looking for her. I found the troll about to attack her and used the flying charm to knock the brute out with his own club." McGonagall, for a moment, did not know what to say. Finally she said "10 points to Gryffindor for your outstanding courage, loyalty, and level headedness." She paused for a moment. "Now, I suggest that you two return to your dormitory."

Harry nodded and led Hermione away.

"I want to say," Hermione said, "Thank you for coming after me."

"Hey, what are friends for?" he replied, "Why did you let Ron get to you?"

"I don't know," she said, "I guess that Ron can do that to you."

"Yeah, he is a git," Harry agreed.

November came, bitter and cold. On November 3rd, Hermione disappeared after lessons and was never seen again. McGonagall told him that she had been withdrawn from Hogwarts by her parents supported by Dumbledore following the troll incident. Harry's pranks on Malfoy, Ron and Neville increased. Every day, the three boys could be found making noises from one animal or another and letting out massive farts at all the worst times. And that didn't even take into account the twins, who merrily transfigured Malfoy's robes into a pink tutu one fine morning and then made him start dancing ballet right there in the Great Hall, at least until Snape ruined the fun by dragging the boy back to the Slytherin dormitories.

To make things even better, for Harry anyway, none of his pranks were ever tied to him because of his Metamorphmagus abilities. The downside of this was that they ended up being blamed on the twins, who in turn, pranked Harry 'as payback' they said. Harry didn't mind all that much as he'd take one of Fred and Georges pranks over punishment any day of the week.

Flitwick, unfortunately, hadn't convinced Dumbledore about Pettigrew. And so, since he couldn't go after Pettigrew (teachers, after all, had certain appearances to maintain) Flitwick began privately tutoring Harry and Daphne in more advanced unlocking charms.

As the first Quidditch game neared, Harry's suspicions towards Snape began increasing as the Potions Master seemed to have developed a limp. On the day before the match, Harry used the Marauder's Map to find Snape in the staffroom. He saw Filch bandaging Snape, who said something about the impossibility of 'keeping an eye on all three heads at once.' Harry started to close the door, but not before Snape had seen him. Harry still did not know how he had escaped without punishment, but he had realized one thing. Snape had tried to get past the dog on Halloween and he told Daphne.

Their suspicions grew even more when Daphne caught Snape trying to jinx Harry's broom. She stopped him by setting fire to his robes with her specialty blue-bell flames. However, when they presented their suspicions to Hagrid, he tried to reassure them that Snape was not after whatever it is, though he let slip the name of the dog, Fluffy, and another name – Nicholas Flamel. Flitwick, similarly, did not think that Snape was after the mysterious object. When asked about Nicholas Flamel, Flitwick became evasive and told Harry to forget about it.

November turned into December and Christmas approached. And still, Harry and Daphne had not uncovered the identity of Nicholas Flamel, despite all their research in the library. They were so busy that Malfoy and Neville even got respites from Harry's incessant pranks. Harry could not go home for Christmas because Sirius was still in hiding. Dumbledore abused his powers to block Harry going to the Tonks'. On Christmas Morning, Harry woke up to see nothing at the bottom of his bed and went downstairs.

Harry went downstairs and saw Neville about to open a present. Harry was shocked when he saw the writing: _This is a Potter family heirloom, but you deserve it far more than he does. Use it well._ _A friend_

Harry, in the flash of a second, reached out and grabbed the present and note.

"Hey, that's mine…" Neville whined.

"Can you read, you idiot? It says here that it is a Potter family heirloom and so belongs to me."

"But it was given to me!" Neville said.

"And I really don't give a damn," Harry replied, raising his wand. "Give me an excuse, please." Neville whimpered and ran back up to the dormitory. Harry tore open the present revealing a fluid, silvery grey cloak. _An invisibility cloak!_ He thought and then remembered Sirius and Remus telling him about his father owning one. They hadn't known what had happened to it and had thought that it was destroyed along with the house in Godric's Hollow.

_Apparently not!_ Harry thought and then his mind began working. _Of course! It has to be Dumbledore. He must have taken it prior to my parent's death. Why, I'm not sure…_Harry made a mental note to ask the Headmaster about this later.

Looking around, Harry saw presents addressed to him under the tree which showed signs of being opened and resealed.

That night, Harry used his Invisibility cloak to enter the Restricted Section of the Library. After very nearly getting caught by Filch and Snape, Harry took refuge in a room and found himself facing a mirror. A mirror in which he saw far more than just his reflection.

Please review, with thanks to my beta witowsmp


	5. Chapter 5

_JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me. Jedipilot24 created the plotline to this series, he kindly let me revive it._

**Some people asked about the Wormtail unmasking scene and why Harry didn't do anything. At this time, Harry should not know stunning spells, he was expecting McGonagall to do so. He was also wary of using spells himself because certain people could claim he used dark magic to make someone look like Pettigrew. I was also asked about removing the animagus sub-plot - I felt it's been used too much, especially in Harry-raised-by-Sirius stories. **

**Chapter Five**

**Conclusions**

"Mum, Dad?" Harry said and the two reflections nodded and smiled. Harry did not know how long he had stood in the room, staring at his smiling parents, but he finally managed to tear himself away and go back to his dormitory.

The next night, he went back to the room. The mirror was still there, still showing him his parents.

"I see you have discovered the Mirror of Erised," a new voice said. Harry turned to see Dumbledore.

"I take it you have figured out its purpose by now," he said and Harry nodded.

"It shows us our deepest desire," Dumbledore nodded and smiled, his eyes twinkling away. "Many have wasted away in front of the Mirror of Erised or gone mad. The Mirror will be moved to a different spot in a few days," he said. "Do not go looking for it again. Best not to dwell on dreams or you will lose touch with reality and forget to live."

"I disagree, Professor," Harry said.

"Oh?" Dumbledore said with a touch of amusement.

"Yes," Harry said. "It's our dreams which drive us…motivate us to excel. Without dreams, we would have no reason to do anything beyond the minimum."

"Perhaps," Dumbledore conceded, "But some dreams remain dreams and dwelling on _them_ is dangerous."

Harry was forced to admit that Dumbledore had a point. There was a slight pause.

"I am interested, Professor, in knowing why you tried to give a certain something to a certain undeserving person," Harry asked and Dumbledore, for a moment, looked surprised and concerned.

"Take some advice, Professor," he continued, "And don't try to do something like that again." Harry turned and walked out of the room without looking back. As he turned a corner, the cloak caught on a statue, forcing Harry to become visible. He looked at it and noticed it was snagged on the statue. Before he could do anything about it, he could hear footsteps. Not wanting to risk detention or loss of points, he ran off before Snape came in the area. In the morning, Harry went back to collect the cloak and found out it had gone.

The next term began and upon her return, Harry and Daphne were no closer to uncovering the identity of Nicholas Flamel, though Harry was certain that he'd seen the name somewhere before. He told her about the mirror and his conversation with Dumbledore.

That night in the common room, Harry sat down on a couch and opened one of the Chocolate Frogs Daphne had sent him. When he saw that the card was Dumbledore, it was like a light going on in his brain.

"Of course!" he said. He told Daphne about his discovery and the two went to the library. She asked Madam Pince where to find a book on alchemy and she led them to a huge dusty tome which had not been checked out since 1736.

"Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone," she said.

"The what?" Harry asked and Daphne shoved the book in his face. Harry read the indicated passage and his eyes nearly popped out.

"That must be what Fluffy is guarding," Harry exclaimed.

"Yes," Daphne said. "They must have known that someone was after it and since they're friends…"

"Flamel asked Dumbledore to safeguard the Stone in the only place more secure than Gringotts…Hogwarts," Harry said and his friend nodded with a smile.

At Quidditch practice, Wood revealed that Snape was referring their next game. Harry and Daphne were horrified at this and redoubled their efforts to learn new spells. The training with Flitwick was going slow, primarily because of the complexity of the spells involved. They _were_ O.W.L. level so it was to be expected.

After Gryffindor's victory in the Quidditch game, Harry overheard a conversation in the forest between Snape and Quirrell which both seemed to confirm his suspicions and muddy them. Why would Snape be trying to bully Quirrell when they seemed to be on the same side? Snape was an ex-Death Eater and Quirrell was harbouring one. Something didn't quite add up.

Soon, Harry and Daphne had something else to worry about. Hagrid, it seemed, had somehow acquired a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon egg and hatched it. Harry remembered Wood saying something about Charlie Weasley studying dragons and wrote a letter to him, explaining the situation. Several days later, he got a reply and instructions on what to do. Several days following that, Hagrid took Norbert to Hogsmeade where Charlie and his friends had arrived on broomsticks to take Norbert away.

The latest news on the Gryffindor grapevine was that Neville got caught out of bounds (because he forgot the common room password again). When questioned, he admitted to planning some scheme to get Harry expelled. McGonagall decided to suspend him but was overruled by Dumbledore (again). He told her that he must remain at Hogwarts at all costs. She ended up deducting fifty points from Gryffindor and gave him a detention.

Harry began to worry about the whereabouts of his invisibility cloak. There were only two candidates and he didn't like either one of them. After tending to the potion, Harry went to the dormitory and dug through Neville's belongings, the cloak was not there.

As the exams loomed, Harry and Daphne began focusing more and more on their studies. They still hadn't figured out the connection between Quirrell and Snape. Their best guess was that Snape was after the Stone – no surprise there – and didn't know about Pettigrew. Why, he was unsure, but it didn't really matter at this point. What was sure, was that Quirrell had obviously been one of the teachers who was protecting the Stone and that Snape was trying to figure out how to get around his spell…which meant that he must already know how to get past the others, and probably Fluffy too.

One day, Harry found himself outside the Forbidden Forest after Quidditch training. He could see a silvery trail. Letting curiosity get the better of him, Harry entered the forest. Half an hour later, he found a dead unicorn and a cloaked figure feeding on its blood. The hooded figure moved swiftly towards Harry, who felt a terrible pain in his scar, but his Occlumency shields diluted it to a degree. The figure continued heading towards him, but a centaur arrived, drove it off, and introduced himself as Firenze.

"You are not safe here, Harry Potter," he said. "Climb onto my back, I must get you out of here." Just as Harry did this, more Centaurs arrived and chastised Firenze. After several minutes of arguing, Firenze took off with Harry.

"Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?" Firenze asked Harry.

"No, I don't," Harry said.

"It is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," the centaur said. "Only one with nothing to lose and everything to gain would do it. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch away from death, but at a terrible price…. you will have a half-life, a cursed life, the moment the blood the touches your lips."

"Who would be that desperate?" Harry wondered. "If you're going to be cursed forever, why would you even want to live?"

"Unless," Firenze said, "You only needed to stay alive long enough to drink something else…"

"The Philosopher's Stone!" Harry exclaimed and Firenze nodded. "But who?"

"Can you think of no one?" Firenze asked.

"Voldemort!" Harry realized and Firenze nodded again. This just muddied things even more. Why would Snape be trying to get the Stone for Voldemort while bullying Quirrell, who also, it seemed, worked for Voldemort? Why weren't they cooperating instead? There was more than meets the eye but he was always told that things might not always be as they seem.

Harry later confided in Daphne what he had learned and the pain in his scar.

"It has to be some kind of warning," Harry said. "That danger is nearby."

"Has it ever hurt before?" Daphne wanted to know and Harry shook his head.

"Don't worry," he said, trying to smile, "I've found that Occlumency can head off the worst effects. At most, it'll be a minor distraction."

"I guess I'm going to have to be a little more careful this time," Daphne said before starting her Legilimency practice with him.

After Harry had successfully, though only barely, managed to fend off her attack, they switched. Daphne too managed to fend him off.

Exams finally came. Harry did his best to concentrate and ignore the irritation in his forehead. He managed to make a pineapple tap dance in Charms, successfully turned a mouse into a nearly perfect matchbox in Transfiguration, and brewed a moderately good Forgetfulness potion in Potions. It wasn't as good as Daphne's, but was still pretty good. The last exam was History of Magic. Harry was very grateful when Professor Binns finally told them to put their quills down.

"Daphne," he said as they left. "I've been thinking. How exactly did Hagrid get a dragon's egg? I mean they're restricted as hell and I doubt very many people carry them around in their pockets?" Daphne's eyes went wide and they went to visit Hagrid.

"Hullo," he said, smiling, "Finished yer exams?" Harry and Daphne nodded. "Got time for a drink?" Hagrid continued and they shook their heads.

"No, but we want to ask you something. Tell us about that person who gave you the dragon egg."

"He wore a cloak and wouldn't take it off. Might o' been a dragon dealer," Hagrid said. "Yea get lots o' strange folk in the Hogs Head."

"What did you talk about?" Harry asked, trying another tack, "Did you mention Hogwarts?"

"Mighta come up," Hagrid said as he frowned, trying to remember, "Yeah…we talked about my job and the egg, played cards, and Fluffy came up."

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked with a calm he was not feeling.

"Yeah…he _did_ seem quite interested… I mean how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece of cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o'music an' he'll fall right ter sleep…" Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"Oops, I really shoudln'ta said that," he said, "Forget I ever said anything."

"Of course," Harry said with a smile and then he and Daphne began running back to the castle.

"Should we tell Dumbledore?" Daphne said.

"Won't do any good," Harry said, "He wouldn't believe us. We're going to have to go after it ourselves."

"Tonight?" Daphne asked.

"Tonight!"

Harry was to meet Daphne in a secret passage linking the dungeons to the seventh floor, a sub-passage would lead them to the third floor.. The invisibility cloak was still nowhere to be found. But, by far the most shocking thing was that the Marauder's Map indicated that Snape was in his room…and that Quirrell was going after the Stone. This only served to confuse Harry even further. Suddenly, they heard footsteps and the door to the tower opened, apparently of its own accord. Harry snapped his wand up and said "_Stupefy_".

There was a loud 'thud' as something hit the floor. Harry walked over and felt around, finally grabbing the cloak, revealing Ron and Neville underneath, fully stunned.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Harry said, "Taking something that's not yours." Harry decided to have some fun. With difficulty, he moved Ron and Neville so it looked like they were donned the cloak and headed out of the common room, casting two spells as he went, then headed toward the secret passage.

The friends eventually made it to the forbidden door. Daphne unlocked it with a whispered, "_Alohomora._"

The door swung open, revealing Fluffy. There was also a harp near the door. Harry and Daphne moved over to it and Harry tentatively ran his hands across the strings. Fluffy yawned for a moment and then began growling again. Harry realized that he could not play it without risking his life. Daphne, fortunately, had a solution.

"_Iugis Organum,_" she whispered, pointing her wand at the harp, which began playing a light tune. Fluffy yawned again and fell asleep. Harry and Daphne shed the cloak and he stuffed it into his pocket. They pulled up the trapdoor and went through… and found themselves in some kind of plant that began wrapping snake-like tendrils around them.

"Stop moving," Daphne said. "This is Devil's Snare…let's see; what did Professor Sprout say… it likes the dark and damp…"

"Fire," Harry declared and Daphne began sending her bluebell flames at the Devil's Snare. The plant instantly loosened its grip on them so they pulled themselves free and started going down the corridor.

They came to a room with a high ceiling and dozens of odd-looking birds. Daphne tried, "_Alohomora_" on the door and it didn't work. Harry suddenly realized that the birds were actually keys and his Seeker eye began looking for…

"There!" he said, pointing at one of them. It was large and old-fashioned, and its wing was bent on one side. Harry and Daphne each jumped on a broom and went after it.

The instant they did, the keys began swarming around them and they lost sight of the key. It took Harry several minutes to find it again, but he finally did. They flew down, dismounted and Harry jammed the key into the lock and turned. The door opened into a large chamber with a giant, larger than life chess set.

"Oh, great. Just great." Harry said, "I'm terrible at chess."

"So am I," Daphne said, "But we have no choice." Harry became a bishop and Daphne a castle. The game seemed to drag on forever. Sweat beaded down Harry's cheek. He could see only one way to win and prayed that he wasn't wrong. He sacrificed his last knight to draw the Queen away and then moved forward to checkmate the King. The King dropped his crown at Harry's feet. He let out a sigh of relief. Harry and Daphne rushed through the next door and saw a large, dead, and very smelly troll.

"I'm so glad we don't have to face _this_ challenge," Harry said and they went through the next door, which led them to a room with a table. There were seven differently shaped vials standing on it in a line. Harry and Daphne stepped over the threshold and instantly, purple flames sprung up behind them and black flames in front of them.

Daphne saw a roll of paper and unrolled it. It was a riddle. She read it through several times and began muttering to herself as she walked up and down the line of bottles. Finally, she clapped her hands.

"I've got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire, to the Stone." Harry grabbed the bottle. There wasn't much left in it.

"There's only enough in here for one person," he said, "Which one will take you back through the purple flames?" Daphne pointed at a rounded bottle on the right end of the line.

"You drink that," he said.

"And then do what?" Daphne said.

"Find McGonagall and Flitwick," Harry said. "I might be able to hold Quirrel off for a while but I'm no match for him in the long run."

"But Harry," she said, "What if You-Know…" Harry glared at her, "What if Vo-Voldemort is with him?"

"Well, I got lucky against him before," he said, indicating his scar. "maybe I'll be lucky again." Daphne trembled and threw her arms around Harry, who hugged her back.

"Good luck," she said "And take care." She took a sip of the rounded bottle and went through the purple flames. Harry downed the smallest bottle and went through the black flames to the last chamber. Quirrel was waiting for him.

"I see you aren't surprised to see me," Quirrel said.

"No," Harry replied, "But I am quite confused. I thought you were in cohorts with Snape."

"I bet you are," Quirrel said. "Let me straighten a few things out. _I_ was the one who let the troll in. _I _was the one who tried to jinx your broom…" Harry's eyes went wide. _Snape_ had actually been trying to save his life? It didn't make sense and yet it did. '_My dad _did _try to save his life so the debt must have been transferred to me when he died,'_ Harry realized.

"And now," Quirrel said, "I will kill you." Quirrel snapped his fingers and ropes appeared out of thin air. Harry tried to dodge, but he wasn't fast enough and was soon bound to the floor. Quirrel then began trying to puzzle out the Mirror.

Finally, he said, "What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master." To Harry's surprise, a high cold voice answered.

"Use the boy," it said. Quirrell's eyes lit up.

"Of course," he said and clapped his hands, releasing Harry from the ropes. Harry slowly got up and his hand started to migrate towards his wand and stopped when Quirrel pointed his wand at him.

"Don't even think about it," Quirrel said, "Now, come here, look into the mirror and tell me what you see." Harry walked up to the mirror and saw his reflection, who smiled at him. It put its hand in its pocket and pulled out a blood red stone. It then winked and put the stone back in the pocket…and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his pocket.

"Well," Quirrel asked. "What do you see?" Harry summoned his courage and strengthened his Occlumency shields as much as possible.

"I see myself holding the Quidditch Cup," he lied.

Quirrel cursed and said, "Get out of the way!" Harry moved aside and started to make a break for it when he heard the voice suddenly say.

"He lies…he lies!" Harry silently cursed, wondering how Voldemort had figured it out. '_Maybe it was a lucky guess,_' he thought.

"Potter, come back here," Quirrel said. "Tell me what you saw!"

"Let me speak to him," the voice commanded.

"Master," Quirrel said, "you are not strong enough."

"I have strength enough for this," Voldemort said and Quirrel unwrapped his turban and turned around. In horror, Harry saw a face in the back of Quirrell's head. It was chalk with glaring red eyes and slits for noses… '_Like a snake_,' Harry realized.

"Harry Potter," the face whispered. "See what I have become? Mere shadow and vapour. I have form only when I can share another body, but fortunately, there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds. Unicorn blood has strengthened me these past weeks and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a new body for myself. Now, give me the stone in your pocket." Harry stumbled backward.

"Don't be a fool," Voldemort snarled, "Better save your own life and join me or you'll face the same end as your parents. They died begging for mercy…" 

"LIAR!" Harry shouted and Quirrel started walking backwards towards him.

"How touching," Voldemort said. "I have always valued bravery. Your father died first after putting up a courageous fight. But your mother died needlessly trying to protect you. Now give me the Stone unless you want her to have died in vain."

"NEVER!" Harry shouted and sprang for the flame door.

Voldemort screamed, "SEIZE HIM!" and Quirrel darted forward and grabbed Harry's wrist. At once, Harry felt a searing pain in his scar, despite his shields. Quirrel fell back and Harry saw that his hand had been burnt. '_Curious,'_ he thought, '_I wonder_,' even as Voldemort shrieked.

"Seize him, seize him!" Quirrel lunged towards Harry, who dodged out of the way, but Quirrel hit the mirror. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation as he touched the glass. Harry looked and saw his mirror image in the mirror. As Quirrel continued to touch the mirror image, he began to crumble into dust.

Harry's scar was now hurting beyond his ability to suppress Suddenly, just before Quirrel's head turned to dust, a dark form erupted out of the back of his head and flew away, passing through Harry as it did. Just then, he heard someone mutter something and the flames died, revealing Daphne, McGonagall, Flitwick and, to his dismay, Dumbledore. Daphne came running up and embraced him.

"Harry," she said, "Are you alright?"

"I've been better," he said, "But I'll live."

"Where's Vo-Voldemort?" Daphne asked.

"He _was_ in Quirrel."

"_In_ Quirrel?" Daphne asked.

"I'll explain later," Harry said, "But he's gone now. I don't know where he went, but I have the feeling that this isn't the last time I'll run into him." Harry then turned to Dumbledore, "Speaking of which, I want to know just why Voldemort wanted to kill me." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"I'll tell you that when you're ready…when you're older," he said.

"No," Harry said. "You are going to tell me right here and now. I already know some of it anyway." Dumbledore's eyes went wide.

"Just what _do_ you know?" he asked.

"Only that there was some kind of prophecy about Voldemort and myself," Harry said. "I think I deserve to know the contents, wouldn't you agree, Professor?"

"How long have you known?" Dumbledore said in a voice that, for him, was almost fearful.

"Quite a while now," Harry said. Sirius had told him when he was ten. Dumbledore, for one moment, went pale.

"It is a terrible burden, Harry," Dumbledore said in his best grandfather voice, "I do not think you are old enough to handle it."

"With all due respect, Professor, I have to ask you how you could _not_ have known about Quirrell. You are, after all, a master Legilimens? Am I right?" Dumbledore swallowed.

"Are you blackmailing me?" he said.

"No," Harry said. "I am merely asking a question that you _will_ answer."

"Very well," Dumbledore said, "Come to my office."

After Dumbledore had shown him the memory of the prophecy, Harry started to leave.

"Harry, there is something you should know. Your rightful placement was with Vernon and Petunia Dursley. It was in your parents' will. Your mother's sacrifice created a bond which will keep you safe as long as you can live somewhere where your mother's blood flows."

"Really?" Harry asked. He knew what was in his parents' will and it specified that he was not to be placed with the Dursleys.

Dumbledore got a roll of parchment out. Harry could see the lines: _In the event of our deaths, our son Harry is to be placed with my sister Petunia Dursley and her husband Vernon._

"Sorry Headmaster, but that is a forgery," Harry said. "Their real will states that I am to stay with Sirius Black. You try to pass that piece of rubbish off and I will take legal action."

He left the office and found Daphne waiting for him.

"You never told me about a prophecy," she said.

"I'm sorry," Harry replied. "I promise I'll fill you in on all the details."

"Are you sure he was telling the truth?" Daphne asked.

"As sure as I can be," he replied and they walked in a classroom where he recited the prophecy and told her that Voldemort only knew the first half. Daphne was silent for a long time.

"But Harry," she suddenly said, "I'm sure you weren't the only person who fit the requirements." Harry nodded.

"The other was Neville," he said and Daphne's eyes went wide.

"I guess that would explain a great deal," she said, "But why you and not him?"

"Several reasons, one I, like Voldemort, am half-blood…"

"Voldemort is half-blood!" Daphne exclaimed and Harry smiled.

"Yes," he said, "I know it's very hypocritical, but it brings me to my second point. Voldemort is the direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin… and while this is not generally known, I am the direct descendant of Godric Gryffindor."

"I see," Daphne said, "I guess it's no wonder why he viewed you as the greater threat."

"Yes and it would also explain why he wanted to kill my father, but not my mother. He wanted to wipe out the Gryffindor line. With no descendants of Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, with the Gryffindor line destroyed, he could take over Hogwarts even with Dumbledore in charge."

"How did you survive?" Daphne asked.

"Because of my mother. She sacrificed herself to save me. Dumbledore said that an act like that creates a powerful protection – one that can stop even the Killing Curse. However, when the curse rebounded on Voldemort, it somehow created a link between us, hence the scar. Dumbledore isn't exactly sure how or why but…" Harry shrugged. "But," Daphne said, "Why would Dumbledore continue to… promote Neville when you are alive and marked?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said. "But my guess is that Neville is easier to control." Daphne nodded in understanding,

"So he just wants to get rid of Voldemort and then toss the person who did it aside to claim the glory?"

"Well," Harry said, "This is all just speculation and while I would not be surprised if that was the case, it is also possible that he wants to…control the Ministry so to speak. It wouldn't surprise me if after I deal with Voldemort, Dumbledore might have me sent to Azkaban and in his high up job at the Wizengamot, he could confiscate all the money in all the Potter and Gryffindor vaults and seize all properties." Daphne's eyes went wide at this.

"Again, I'm not entirely sure _what_ his agenda is," Harry said, "but I'm sure we're going to find out soon enough. In the meantime, I have more important things to focus on."

The rest of the year passed relatively uneventfully. Harry and Daphne finally nabbed Pettigrew in Quirrell's room. With Professor Flitwick's help, they turned him into the Aurors where Madam Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement said that if Sirius turned himself in, there would be a trial for him as soon as possible. Both Minister Fudge and Dumbledore tried to oppose it but Harry threatened to withdraw from Hogwarts and go to Durmstrang.

Sirius was brought into the courtroom by the Aurors and placed in the chair in the centre of the room where he was chained up.

"This is the trial of one Sirius Orion Black – the charges are being a Death Eater, the murder of thirteen Muggles and betraying James and Lily Potter to You-Know-Who." Madam Bones said, "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Sirius replied.

"Administer the Veritaserum," Bones ordered. An Auror poured three drips of the potion down Sirius's throat. Madam Bones began the questioning.

"What is your name?"

"_Sirius Orion Black."_

"Are you or have you ever been a Death Eater."

"_No."_

"Did you betray James and Lily Potter to You-Know-Who?"

"_No."_

"Then who did?"

"_Peter Pettigrew. My relationship with James was so well known, it was obvious I would be picked as a Secret Keeper, so we went with Peter."_

"Did you murder the Muggles?"

"_No. Peter performed a non-verbal spell which and blew the street, killing the Muggles. He cut off his own finger and transformed into a rat. He and I are unregistered Animagi."_

"Did you abduct Harry Potter?"

"_No. James and Lily's will stated that I was to look after him if anything happened to them. When I took him, Hagrid was planning on kidnapping him, with the intent to take him to Lily's magic-hating Muggle relatives against their wills, on Dumbledore's orders. I don't blame Hagrid in the slightest – he is very loyal to Dumbledore who he owes a great deal and would have done nearly anything for him. I had their wills executed within two hours of their deaths and formally adopted Harry._

The Wizengamot deliberated. Within five minutes, they had cleared Sirius of all charges. They also apologized for the previous administration's actions which led to them spending the previous ten years in hiding. But that wasn't the end of it. Dumbledore had a few things to say.

"Sirius, it is in Harry's best interests to go to the Dursleys for the holidays. I am asking you to consider doing it. He would be there the entire summer, Christmas and Easter holidays," he said.

"And when would I get to see him?" Sirius asked.

"You wouldn't. Their conditions on taking him would be that there would be no contact with witches and wizards and steps would be taken to make sure there was no magic used."

"I refuse to send him there. They hate our world and they would kill him. I expressed those fears to Hagrid and he was still going to take him there. They abused Lily and I refuse to let him do the same to Harry."

Dumbledore was about to say something but Madam Bones interrupted him.

"Alright, Mr. Black. Harry will not be sent to the Dursleys. He can return home with you."

Sirius left the courtroom a free man. He and Harry had a butterbeer to celebrate in the Three Broomsticks before Harry returned to school.

Gryffindor's winning of the game against Ravenclaw secured that house both the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup for the first time in years. The train ride back to Platform 9 ¾ was also uneventful. Harry was met by Sirius at the station. There was also a couple standing next to Dumbledore looking at him. The woman was very thin while the man looked like a walrus with a moustache to match. Neville was seen to go with Ron and his family. After bidding goodbye to Daphne and promising to write, Sirius Apparated him to their home. Tonks and Remus greeted Harry enthusiastically and Harry began telling them all about what had happened.


	6. Chapter 6

_The excellent JKR (despite the crapness of HBP and DH) owns HP, not me, so there._

**Chapter Six**

**Second Year**

The first thing Harry did upon returning home from the holidays was to find out what really happened to Hermione. Tonks did some checking and found out where she lived. The group went to visit her (with Daphne). It turned out that her parents withdrew her from Hogwarts following the troll incident and Dumbledore got her a placement at Beauxbatons. They promised to keep in touch.

Later on in the summer, Harry was very puzzled. Hermione or Daphne hadn't been sending him letters since term finished. He'd sent plenty to them via Hedwig, but had never gotten any replies.

Frustrated after a week and a half, he wrote to her Hermione the Muggle postal service and got a reply. Eventually, he was able to persuade Sirius into having a Muggle telephone line installed. But owl post was never received by Harry. Sirius, Remus and Tonks got their post though. He decided to try and find out why.

But he and Sirius had more important things to worry about now. The two were in Gringotts, straightening a few things out. Since the end of term, Dumbledore had been trying to get Harry into the hands of the Dursley family but had failed when Sirius kept refusing.

"You have our assurances, Mr. Black," Ragnok said, "That our lawyers will make sure Harry here does not go near the Dursley family. My personal recommendation is to make Harry an official protectorate of the Goblin nation. That way, if Dumbledore tries anything, he will have the full force of the Goblins against him.

"Also, I am concerned that Dumbledore tried to give Neville Longbottom your father's invisibility cloak. I can make some inquiries and find out what other Potter belongings he has and return them to you."

Sirius and Harry agreed and they soon left the bank, with Harry being an official protectorate of the Goblin nation, an honour rarely bestowed upon humans.

Albus Dumbledore was not having a very good day. Sirius Black was now a free man and Harry was now protected by the Goblins, making it that much harder to control him. He had thought that telling Harry the prophecy would help, but he had made another mistake in repeatedly asking where Sirius was. Damn it all! Dumbledore thought. He had to get Harry under control and soon. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and a new plan began forming in Dumbledore's mind.

One day, Harry walked into his room to see a house-elf he did not recognize.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"I is Dobby," the house-elf said with a bow, "I has come to warn Harry Potter."

"Warn me about what?"

"There is a plot to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts this year. Dobby has been knowing it for months and Harry Potter must not be putting himself into danger. He is being too important."

"What terrible things?" Dobby made a chocking noise and began smashing his head against the wall. Harry quickly pulled him away.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Dobby must punish himself, he is being a bad house-elf." Harry sighed

"Why are you warning me?" he wondered "This doesn't have something to do with Voldemort, does it?" He noticed that Dobby was drifting towards the wall and hastily added.

"You could just shake or nod." Dobby shook his head.

"Not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir…" Dobby's eyes went wide, as if he was trying to give Harry a clue. Harry, however, was completely baffled.

"Well, then I have no idea as to who it could be," Harry said. "However, I am still going back to Hogwarts. I have a friend, Hermione…"

"A friend who does not even send Harry Potter letters?"

"Just because the owl post wasn't getting through, but…wait a minute…" Harry said "Have you been stopping my mail?"

"Harry Potter must not be angry; Dobby did it for the best. Dobby had hoped that if Harry Potter thought he didn't have any friends that he wouldn't go back to Hogwarts."

"Well, you thought wrong," Harry said. "I'm going back to Hogwarts and I don't care what you say or do. We've also worked out a way to send letters so I've not missed much." Dobby whimpered. If Harry had been in a Muggle house, it would've been an easy matter, but unfortunately the Ministry could only detect magic, not its caster, which was why only muggle-borns ever got warnings from the Improper Use of Magic Office. Dobby knew this all too well…

"Look," Harry said, "I promise I'll be on my guard."

"Harry Potter must not die!" Dobby said.

"I won't," Harry said. "I survived Voldemort twice, so whatever this, it can't be that bad."

"Oh, no sir. It is far worse. Oh how Dobby wishes he could tell." The house-elf then began banging his head against the wall again and Harry again stopped him.

"Can you give me any more hints?" Harry asked and immediately regretted it when Dobby tried to smash against the wall yet again

"I will not die," he reassured Dobby "That is a promise."

"Harry Potter must give his word that he is not going back to Hogwarts," Dobby insisted.

"Then get out of here because there is no way you can convince me not to go back!"

Harry shouted. Dobby whimpered and disappeared with a 'pop.' Sirius and Remus came into the room

"Everything okay, pup?" Sirius asked and he told them about Dobby.

"That is indeed quite odd," Sirius said. "I wonder what he could've been trying to tell you."

"I don't know," Harry said "I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Sirius invited Hermione and her parents around various times over the holidays and both groups along with the Greengrass family arranged a surprise party for Harry on the 31st. During the day, Harry's letters from Hogwarts arrived. Everyone were astonished to see that most of the booklist comprised of books by one Gilderoy Lockhart.

The Grangers spent the night with Harry and co and the next day, went to Diagon Alley. Harry gave them a money bag after seeing the very unfair interest rates that were being charged for converting Muggle money into galleons (Ministry rules). The Grangers were reluctant to accept but Harry practically forced them too. After a bite of lunch, they went around to the shops, finally reaching Flourish and Botts. A large banner was stretched across the upper windows.

**Gilderoy Lockhart will be signing copies of his autobiography,**

_**Magical Me**_**, today 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.**

"We actually get to meet him," Hermione said, "I mean he's written almost the whole booklist." They slipped inside and after grabbing their copies of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_, got in line with the others. Lockhart slowly came into view. He was seated at a table, surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzling white teeth at the crowd. The real one was wearing forget-me-not blue that matched his eyes and a pointed wizard hat set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.

"I never thought I'd see such a self-absorbed narcissist," Harry muttered under his breath. Harry quickly changed. Hermione started to scowl just as the photographer turned to snarl at Harry.

"Out of the way there…Merlin's Beard! It's Neville Longbottom," the photographer pointed out. Lockhart seized his arm and dragged him forward as the photographer began clicking away like mad. Harry wondered who was escorting Neville.

"Nice big smile, Neville," Lockhart said, "The two of us together are worth the front page." Neville relished the attention just as Lockhart began making a speech.

"Ladies and Gentleman, what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Neville stepped into Flourish and Botts today, they only wanted to buy my autobiography, which I shall be happy to present to him now, free of charge… along with my collected works." he paused to allow the applause to die down, "He had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher…"

Harry then scowled. "So you're responsible for placing the EIGHT books you've written on the school booklist. It may escape your attention _Professor_, but there are some families which cannot afford TWO HUNDRED galleons for most of a school booklist.."

Lockhart suddenly let out a massive fart and developed a rather bad case of chicken pox… in all the wrong places. Sirius and Remus smothered laughter. Hermione merely scowled. Harry and Daphne used the distraction to purchase their books and leave.

Harry spent a few days looking through Lockhart's books and found himself re-reading entries. One entry he saw was a hex which would transform a werewolf back into a human. Living with a werewolf, he knew for a fact there was no hex or spell which would do such a transformation.

Hermione came over one day and Harry brought up the books.

"Could you make up a timeline of these events, please? There are some things that don't add up, especially since he claimed to have used a spell to transform a werewolf back into a human. There is no such spell or we would know about it." With Remus' permission, Harry had told his best friend about Remus' _'furry little problem_'.

Over the next few days, Hermione read through the books and made her notes. After a week, she presented her findings to Harry.

"A lot of these events don't make sense," she began. "It says in this book that he did this but the other book says that at the same time, he did something else. I've also checked in the Black library on some of these events – they took place when he was an infant and before he was even born."

"So he's a fraud?" Harry asked. Hermione reluctantly nodded. She felt sorry that Harry would be suffering substandard teachings while she was at Beauxbatons.

The rest of the holidays went well with no attempts by Dumbledore at sending Harry to the Dursleys. At King's Cross on September 1st, Harry, with Daphne, tried to go through the barrier and hit a solid wall.

"What the hell?" he wondered.

"Something is wrong," Daphne said, wondering if this was Dobby's doing.

"Not to worry," Sirius said and side-along Apparated them onto the platform.

"There we go," he said, "Goodbye." Sirius hugged Harry. "I'll be seeing you."

On the Hogwarts Express, Harry and Daphne found an empty compartment and got caught up on the other happenings of their summer.

The students arrived at Hogwarts to find out that Neville and Ron Weasley never showed up. After the Sorting and the Feast, Dumbledore stood to make some announcements:

"The Forest is forbidden to all students," he began. "Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that no magic is allowed in the corridors. Quidditch try-outs are the second weekend of term. Any student, second year and above, interested should give their names to their Heads of House. And now I would like to introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lockhart." Gilderoy Lockhart stood to rather dismal applause. The _Daily Prophet _article had included everything that had happened at the book store, including the announcement that he was forcing every student to buy all his books at great expense.

The students later heard that Neville and Ron Wesley used a flying car to get to school in an attempt to outshine both Harry and Lockhart. McGonagall was going to suspend them but Dumbledore overrode the punishments. Snape made a very public fifty-point deduction from Gryffindor.

In Herbology, Professor Sprout had them re-pot Mandrakes. In Transfiguration, Harry and Daphne were the only students who successfully turned a beetle into a button. Neville, in contrast, somehow managed to set his desk on fire and Ron managed to turn McGonagall's best hat into a block of ice (she gave him detention for it, deducted twenty points and threatened to kick both him and Neville out of her class). After lunch was Defence Against the Dark Arts. On his way to the class, Harry found himself facing a Gryffindor first-year named Colin Creevey who was asking for a signed photo. Harry only laughed at this and pushed his way through the gathering crowd.

"I'm serious," Creevey said.

"Why me?" Harry said, not even pausing or looking back "Why not Neville?"

"Because you're the Boy-Who-Lived."

"And I don't give out signed photos," Harry said, as he continued on towards class.

"Signed photos?" Malfoy said, as he turned the corner, "Who's giving out signed photos? Ahh…Potter…trying to compete with Longbottom, I see?"

"Shut it, Malfoy. Why would I want to compete with Longbottom?" Harry said. "Don't give me an excuse to hex you." Daphne pulled Harry's arm just in time for him to see Gilderoy Lockhart come around a corner. Harry started to walk away but it was too late.

"I heard that, Mr. Potter," Lockhart said, "And I must remind you that students are not allowed to use magic in the corridors…" Lockhart's attention was suddenly diverted by Colin Creevey's camera and Harry quickly walked towards the classroom while the teacher posed for photos with Neville.

In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry quickly saw that Lockhart really was just a self-absorbed git. The very first thing he did, after giving a very pompous self-introduction, was to give a quiz on his books. Harry blew it off, not really caring about the answers. Hermione would have answered them regardless.

It finally came to a header when Lockhart, after building up a great deal of suspense revealed a cage of Cornish pixies. Harry and Seamus Finnegan burst into laughter. It was not so funny, however, when Lockhart unleashed them on the class.

"Come on now," Lockhart said. "Round them up; they're only pixies." He then bellowed "_Peskipiski Pesternomi!_" and nothing happened. One of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out the window. Harry scowled and began casting Freezing Charms with Daphne. The bell rang and the students all quickly ran out except for Harry and Daphne, who were too busy freezing the pixies.

"He really is a fraud," Harry said afterwards. Daphne didn't say anything because Lockhart awarded fifty points to Gryffindor and Slytherin for their hard work.

Harry spent a great deal of time of the next several days dodging Lockhart and Creevey, though Creevey was harder as he seemed to have memorized Harry's schedule. Since the disaster with the pixies, Lockhart hadn't brought any more live creatures with him to class. Instead, he had taken to reading passages from his books and re-enacting certain scenes. Neville, almost invariably, ended up be chosen to help re-enact. He relished it, being the centre of attention and enjoyed rubbing in the fact that Lockhart would award generous amounts of points to Gryffindor afterwoulds.

"I don't know how much more I can put up with that pompous self opinionated idiot." Harry was heard to remark after one lesson.

Harry and Daphne met up later that day to discuss the timeline Hermione had worked on and sent to Harry after colour coding and refining it.

"I propose we show this to a few of the Ravenclaws in the library. I know that one of them who is in our year is related to someone who works for the Prophet." Daphne said.

"Just don't let Percy Weasley see it though." said Harry, "According to the twins, he'll turn us in faster than that if he got wind of any rule breaking and he would class this as rule breaking – disrespecting teachers."

On Saturday night, Harry decided that Lockhart really needed a good pranking. He donned his invisibility cloak and slipped out of the Tower. Almost there, Harry stopped when he heard the voice.

"_Come…come to me…Let me rip you…Let me tear you…Let me kill you…_"

He looked around and saw no one. Harry began walking, not caring about the direction, the prank all but forgotten. He turned to a corner to see Mrs. Norris. Harry tried to relax and walk past her, but the cat suddenly began running off. '_Damnit!_' Harry thought and began running. He did not stop until he reached Gryffindor tower.

The next day, Harry told Daphne what he had heard. She was just as baffled as he was. The next several weeks passed relatively uneventfully.

Harry sent Hermione some new books for her birthday, along with a pet cat which she named Crookshanks. She had seen the cat during the trip to Diagon Alley but neither she or her parents could buy him because they didn't convert any of their Muggle money into galleons and they refused to let Harry buy him for her, not wanting him to spend anymore money on them. But they didn't know that Harry returned to the Alley the next day (with Tonks) and arranged to purchase the cat and have the owner of the pet shop send him to Hermione at Beauxbatons on her birthday.

Harry and Daphne showed the Lockhart timeline to a few Ravenclaws complete with notes on where to find specific bits in the books.

"But you must have got it wrong." One Ravenclaw said, "Lockhart is a genius."

"His looks have you brainwashed," Harry said, "Take a look at a few of the entries we've highlighted."

The students began to look up the entries in Lockhart's books (Harry and Daphne noticed that a few of them were second hand), determined to prove the duo wrong. As they noticed the truth unravelling, they looked at other entries.

"He really is a fraud." A second student said, "What do we do now?"

"My mother works for the Daily Prophet." The first student said, "We'll send this to her and she can dig up some dirt. I think someone else did all this and Lockhart is taking the credit for it. But why haven't they said anything?"

Halloween came and went. Harry and Daphne didn't attend the feast in the Great Hall since they (with McGonagall's permission) had left the school with Sirius to visit his parent's graves, something they did each year. When they returned the next day, the school was full of gossip flying about.

"What's going on?" Harry asked someone. He was ignored and most people ran away from the sight of him. Daphne ended up asking someone who told her.

"Apparently, someone killed Filtch's cat in the corridors on the second floor last night and left a message on the walls." The student took Harry and Daphne to the scene of the crime and pointed at the writing on the wall.

**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.**

**ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.**

"Why are people running away at the sight of me?" Harry asked.

"Well, because you weren't around last night, most people think you did it. I'd watch out for Longbottom and Ron Weasley if I were you – they are spreading the story that you are the Heir of Slytherin. Only a handful of us know you are innocent. Fred and George Weasley are trying to convince people of your innocence while I know for a fact that YOU are Gryffindor's Heir."

They thanked the student then went to an empty classroom.

"Harry," Daphne said in a quiet corner, "The Chamber…that reminds me of something I once read in _Hogwarts, A History_…something about a secret chamber. However, I didn't bring my copy to school because I couldn't make room with all the Lockhart books. Have you got your copy?" Harry nodded. He went up to the common room and took it out, bringing it down to the classroom. She found the entry on the Chamber and read the story to Harry.

She explained the story about Salazar Slytherins' disagreement with the other Founders, his alleged secret chamber, and his claim that one day his heir would return and unleash the horror within, purging the school of all who were unworthy to study magic. The horror within was, presumably, some kind of monster that only the Heir of Slytherin could control. The book told that the school had been searched many times and there was no evidence that Slytherin had constructed a secret broom cupboard (to much laughter), let alone a huge chamber which would hold a monster.

After Harry finished listening, he thought about how the Sorting Hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin. '_Ridiculous, of course!'_ he thought. '_Voldemort is the Heir of Slytherin, not me.'_ However, that did not, apparently explain how the Chamber had been opened if only Voldemort could've done it…especially since Voldemort was last reported to be somewhere in the forests of Albania. Something didn't add up, though neither Harry nor Daphne had any clue as to what.

Please review, with thanks to my beta witowsmp


	7. Chapter 7

_As usual, JKR owns Harry Potter, not me. To make up for the Hermione error that slipped through in the previous chapter, I decided to upload this chapter early._

**Chapter Seven**

Over the next several days, the school talked of little except the attack. Filch tried, rather unsuccessfully, to clean off the writing and, when he wasn't standing guard, tried to give students detention for things like 'breathing too loudly' and 'looking happy'.

Harry noted that Ginny Weasley somehow seemed even more disturbed than the others and heard from the twins that she was a great cat lover.

He and Daphne quickly figured out that the water had come from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Using his invisibility cloak, they entered the bathroom. A conversation with her revealed that Peeves the Poltergeist had seriously upset her at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party, which had happened at the same time as the Halloween feast. Afterwards, she had come here and tried to drown herself before remembering that she was already dead.

In the Gryffindor common room, Harry heard Neville and Ron discussing things.

"Who do we know thinks Muggle-borns are scum?" Neville asked.

"Malfoy, of course," Ron said. "Look at his family; they could easily be Slytherin's descendants. They're certainly evil enough. What about Potter? His best friend is a Slytherin."

Harry quickly placed his hands over his mouth so that Neville and Ron wouldn't hear him trying not to laugh.

"Harry, wait!" Daphne said after Harry told her about it earlier, "Malfoy may not be one attacking the students, but he might know who is…"

"I'm all ears." Harry said. Daphne dragged him into Myrtle's bathroom. She argued that no-one would hear them making secret plans in there.

"We both know that Lucius Malfoy was in You-Know-Who's inner circle but got off with claims of being under the Imperious curse. Surly he would know something about it and might have told Draco."

"But how are we going to find anything about it? Draco may be stupid, but he's not that stupid. He won't tell anyone but Crabbe and Goyle."

"I read about listening charms." Daphne said, "All we need to do is plant one on him, the Slytherin common room and his dorm..."

"That'll be easy, won't it?" Harry said, "_Excuse me Professor Snape, will you please tell us the password to the Slytherin common room?_" he asked in a mocking tone of voice.

"We don't need to do that – remember, I am a Slytherin and have unlimited access to the common room and can creep into his dorm. Spoilt brat has his own room." Daphne said.

"We can't listen to him all day – it would look suspicious if we were distracted by listening to conversations." Harry pointed out.

"Something that is not widely known," Daphne said, "Listening charms can be linked to Quick Quotes Parchment and Quills."

"That's it!" Harry said, "Binky (the house-elf appeared) – can you get us some Quick Quote Parchment and Quills please?" Binky vanished then reappeared with the parchment and quill. It was decided to leave them in a cubicle with a strong locking charm on the door so no-one could get in.

* * *

At the Quidditch game against Slytherin, Harry was attacked by a rogue Bludger, though he still managed to catch the Snitch and win the game. Students prevented Lockhart from approaching him while Harry was taken to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey fixed his arm in seconds.

* * *

An article about Lockhart appeared in the Daily Prophet a few days later.

**GILDEROY LOCKHART – FRAUD?**

**By Rita Skeeter**

_It has come to the attention of the Daily Prophet that Gilderoy Lockhart, Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and hero to many could be a fraud. _

_Documents obtained by this paper have claimed that events written in his books conflict with events in his other books. Reports have also reached this reporter's ears about incompetence in his teachings._

_Professor Lockhart was unavailable for comment as we went to press although Headmaster Dumbledore has full confidence in his choice of teacher and will not fire him unless there is undisputable evidence against him._

_It has now been reported that following a Quidditch match, Lockhart attempted to perform unlicensed healing on student Harry Potter. No parties will confirm or deny such reports._

_The Daily Prophet vows to continue investigations into Professor Lockhart based on these accusations._

* * *

In the second week of December, McGonagall was once again collecting the names of the students staying for the holidays. Harry and Daphne both signed the register of students returning home. Andromeda Tonks had invited her favourite nephew (Harry, not Draco) along with Sirus and Remus over to spend the holidays with her family.

Dumbledore had summoned Harry to his office to try and talk him into going to the Dursley home for the holidays. Harry, of course, refused. He told the Headmaster that he had no say in what students did out of school.

* * *

A week later, Harry was stuck in the Hospital Wing with dragon pox. His area was magically sealed off as not to contaminate anyone else with it. The following day, to his shock, Daphne was brought in and put on the bed next to his. Madam Pomfrey and Snape were pouring potions down her throat.

After the two finished, Harry spoke up. "What happened to her?"

"She got bitten by a snake." Pomfrey answered before leaving to attend to other patients.

A few hours later, Daphne woke up. She told Harry what had happened.

_In the Great Hall, a lot of students were gathered there for a duelling club which was being set up._

"_Maybe Flitwick will be teaching us," someone said. "I heard that he was a champion dueller when he was young."_

"_As long as it's not…" another person trailed off when he saw Gilderoy Lockhart and Snape arrive. After Snape had demonstrated the Disarming Charm on Lockhart (too much cheering from most of the students), the students were split up into duelling pairs. Daphne inevitably ended up paired with Malfoy._

"_One…two…three!" Lockhart said. Daphne raised her wand but Malfoy had already started moving at the 'two'. She was flung back and quickly jumped up._

"_Rictusempra!"__ she said._

"_Tarantallegra!__" Malfoy said a few moments later. Daphne's spell hit him, causing him to fall to the ground, laughing. Her feet immediately began doing a tap dance._

"_I said disarm only!" Lockhart said, "Stop, stop!"_

"_Finite Incantatem__!" Snape lazily said and the spells all ceased._

"_I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," Lockhart said. "Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley…"_

"_Bad idea," Snape said "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest of spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing in a matchbox. How about Miss Greengrass and Mister Malfoy?"_

"_Excellent idea," Lockhart said and then showed Daphne a complicated wiggle movement with his wand and ended up dropping it._

"_Ooops…my wand is a little overexcited…"_

_Daphne merely shook her head. She already knew how to block and deflect spells. It was one of the many benefits of spending her life in a house in which the Ministry can't detect magic. Snape whispered something into Malfoy's ear and the pale-haired boy immediately sneered at Daphne._

"_Just do what I did, Daphne." Lockhart said, not knowing that she was ignoring him._

"_Three…two…one…go." Malfoy raised his wand and said:_

"_Serpensortia!__" the end of his wand exploded and a large black snake shot out of it and started slithering towards him. The crowd backed up in fear. Daphne backed away – one of her greatest fears was snakes. Before anyone could do anything, Malfoy banished the snake towards Daphne – it then bit her several times before Snape vanished it._

* * *

The following week, the snow had turned into a blizzard that resulted in Herbology being cancelled. Sprout wanted to fit scarves and socks on the Mandrakes and didn't feel she could trust anyone else with the operation.

Harry and Daphne had been released from the Hospital Wing. They had found out that Malfoy was initially received no punishment for summoning the snake or for setting it on Daphne, but McGonagall overrode it. Malfoy lost points and was still serving time in detention.

Harry was going about the school finding somewhere to study but it seemed that everywhere he went, someone prevented him from entering. He even saw some Hufflepuffs talking to Daphne, trying to convince her to cut all ties with him. He began to make his way to the common room. His fury was so great that he didn't even pay attention to where he was going and almost ran into Hagrid.

"Why aren't yeh in class?"

"It was cancelled," Harry said, "What're you doing here?" Hagrid held up a limp rooster.

"Second one killed this term," he explained, "It's either foxes or a Blood-Suckin' Bugbear, but I need the Headmasters permission ter put a charm on the coop." He looked at Harry more closely, "Yeh sure you're alright?"

"I'll be fine," Harry said, "It's just that everyone here seems to think that I'm the heir of Slytherin. Ridiculous, I know, but…" Harry sighed, "I have to be going to Transfiguration. I'll see you later."

Every couple of days, Harry and/or Daphne checked up on the parchment recording Malfoy's conversations. There wasn't anything about the Chamber of Secrets but it did record Malfoy admitting to some other Slytherins about his father's own 'Chamber of Secrets' hidden in Malfoy Manor with lots of dark items which Arthur Weasley would give his wife and children to get the chance to confiscate if he knew about them. Harry and Daphne vowed to send the information to Mr. Weasley as soon as possible.

* * *

When it was time for them to go home for the holidays, they took the parchment and quill with them and Harry set it up in his bedroom.

* * *

There was more gossip waiting when they returned to school. There was no sign of Ron or Neville and rumours were going about that they were the latest victims of the monster of Slytherin. In the end, it was discovered that using stolen ingredients from Snape's stores, they had attempted to make Polyjuice Potion in order to get into the Slytherin common room but in the end, they had ended up fouling up the job, well, the results were rather unspeakable. They were in hiding in a room in the hospital wing until Madam Pomfrey, Snape, Dumbledore and Healers from St. Mungos were able to heal them and restore them back to normal. Snape tried to issue punishments, but Dumbledore overruled him (again).

* * *

Several uneventful weeks went by. One day, Harry was walking by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom when he saw that it was flooding again. He heard Filch moaning and complaining and quickly walked in. Moaning Myrtle was crying, louder and harder than before. She seemed to be hiding in her usual toilet. Harry noticed that it was dark in the bathroom because a sudden rush water had extinguished the candles on the walls and ceiling

"What's up, Myrtle?"

"Who's that?" the teenaged ghost said miserably "Come to throw something else at me?"

Harry waded across the water to her stall and said, "Why would I throw something at you?"

"Don't ask me," Myrtle shouted as she emerged from the toilet, causing even more water to spill out. "Here I am, minding my own business and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me."

"Who?"

"I don't know," Myrtle said. "I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head." Myrtle glared at him. "It's over there, it got washed out…" she pointed to a place under the sink. Harry saw a small, thin book laying there. It had a shabby black cover and was very wet. Harry stepped over and picked it up, casting a quick drying charm on it. He saw that it was a diary and the faded year on the cover indicated that it was fifty years old. One the first page, he saw the name T.M. Riddle. Harry's eyes went wide as he remembered the trophy he had polished all those weeks ago. As he paged through the diary, however, he saw that there was no writing. The back cover indicated that it had been bought at a variety store on Vauxhill Road, London 'Must've been Muggle-born,' Harry thought.

He showed the diary to Daphne, who excitedly examined it. "Think about it, Harry," she said. "The Chamber of Secrets was last opened fifty years ago, this diary is fifty years old and its owner was given an Award for Special Services to the School, fifty years ago. What do you want to bet that Riddle was given the award for catching the Heir! His diary would probably explain everything," Daphne said and tapped an empty page three times with her wand

"Aparecium" she said and nothing happened. Undaunted, Daphne pulled out a Revealer and rubbed on the page. Again, nothing happened.

"That's odd!" Daphne said.

"Maybe we have to do something to unlock it?" Harry said, though he had no clue as to how it might be done.

* * *

Weeks passed, and Harry couldn't put the diary away. There was something oddly familiar about the name Tom Riddle. Like he was an old friend but that was absurd. He had never known anyone by that name. Harry rechecked the trophy room and, though he didn't find anything else on the shield, he did find Riddle's name on an old Medal for Magical Merit and on a list of old Head Boys.

Determined to boost student moral, Lockhart decided to hold a Valentine's Day event on February 14th. The day started with him embarrassing Professor Flitwick with a few comments while making Snape wish he could teach students how to make poison he could force-feed poison Lockhart.

Easter came and it was time to sign up for their new classes. Harry, on the advice of Sirius, Remus, and Tonks, signed up for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

* * *

On the day of the next Quidditch Match (this time against Hufflepuff), McGonagall came onto the pitch carrying a purple megaphone

"This match has been cancelled!" she called out and there were instantly shouts of protest. "All students are to return to their dormitories at once!" She then turned to Harry. "You had better come with me, Potter!"

McGonagall led Harry through the hallways to the infirmary.

"There has been another double attack," she said. Harry saw in horror two girls laying Petrified on the beds. One of them was Daphne. "They were found near the library," McGonagall said. "This was found with them; does it mean anything to you?" she held up a small circular mirror. Harry shook his head. "I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower. I need to address the students."

Please review, with thanks to my beta witowsmp


	8. Chapter 8

_JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me._

**Just something I'm wondering and that is why aren't people leaving reviews these days? Do they have a New Years Resolution not to write up a review? I'm not the type to say 'review otherwise I won't update anymore' but I do wonder why people don't write them? Are they afraid that Critics United will try and get them banned from the site if they write positive reviews and don't want to leave negative reviews?**

**Chapter Eight**

**The Chamber of Secrets**

That night, Harry snuck out under his invisibility cloak and went to Hagrid's hut, thinking he might be able to give some information on what could be going on, considering he was at Hogwarts the last time the Chamber was open. He had barely arrived before he was forced to hide again. Minister Fudge arrived with Dumbledore. Fudge announced that he was taking Hagrid away 'for his safety'. Moments later, Lucius Malfoy arrived with a petition signed by the governors of the school suspending him. Hagrid, before he was taken away, said something about 'following the spiders.' Harry remembered seeing the spiders all around the castle.

In Herbology, Ernie Macmillan formally apologized for accusing him of attacking Justin and even hinted that he thought that Malfoy was responsible. It was then that he saw the spiders. They were heading in the general direction of the Forbidden Forest. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry was sickened by Lockhart's comments that he had known that Hagrid was the perpetrator all along and confidence that the whole thing was over.

That night, Harry, again under the cover of his invisibility cloak, snuck out of the castle. After dropping his cloak off at Hagrid's hut, and silencing Fang with some treacle fudge, he said "Lumos", creating a small light at the tip of his wand, and started heading into the Forest. It took him about twenty minutes of stumbling around before he found the spiders and followed them. Half-an hour later, Harry came upon hundreds of large spiders. One of them picked him up and carried him some distance before finally dropping him.

"Aragog!" the spider called out, "Aragog!"

From the middle of a misty, domed web, came a spider the size of a small elephant. It had a black and grey body and legs and milky white eyes.

"What is it?" Aragog clicked

"A man" the spider clicked back

"Is it Hagrid?"

"A Stranger."

"Kill him" clicked Aragog "I was sleeping…"

"I'm a friend of Hagrid" Harry quickly said. There was a lot of clicking.

Finally, Aragog said "Hagrid has never sent anyone sent a man into our hollow before."

"Hagrid's in trouble," Harry said "That's why I've come."

"In trouble?" Aragog clicked "But why has he sent you?"

"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a…something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban." Aragog clicked his pincers furiously and the sound was echoed by the other spiders.

"But that was years ago" said Aragog "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that _I_ was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought Hagrid opened the Chamber and set me free!"

"And you…you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I!" Aragog said angrily "I was not born in the castle. I came from a distant land. A traveller gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend and a good man. When I was discovered and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest, ever since. Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown thanks to Hagrid's goodness…"

"So...you never attacked anyone?"

"Never" the old spider croaked "It would've been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle except the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and quiet…"

"So what _did_ kill the girl?"

"The thing that lives in the castle is an ancient enemy we spiders fear above all others. Well, do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

"But what _is_ it?"

"We do not speak of it" Aragog said in a fierce tone "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, even though he asked me many times." Harry wisely decided not to press the issue, what with the spiders closing in on him and all. Aragog started going back to his web

"I'll just go now" Harry said

"Go?" Aragog said "I think not." 

"But…"

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command, but I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid." Harry reached for his wand

"_Arania Exumai,_" he bellowed, knocking back one of the spiders. However, as there was a nearly solid wall of them, this did absolutely nothing except make them angrier. Harry tried something else

"_Arania Exumai Maximus!"_ Harry was engulfed by white light that threw back all the spiders in front of Harry. He made a run for it, casting that spell again as needed. By the time he reached Hagrid's hut, he was exhausted, both from the running and the spell casting.

"Follow the spiders, he says." Harry said, shaking his head, "Well, at least I learned that Hagrid was framed." He grabbed his cloak and snuck back to his dormitory. Harry lay down to sleep and suddenly bolted up.

_Of course!_ Harry thought, _the girl died in a bathroom. What if she never left?_

He, unfortunately, could not put his theory to the test. It had been hard enough sneaking away to follow the spiders. Sneaking away to go into a girl's bathroom was an entirely different matter. Not only that, but exams were coming up.

Three days before their first exam, Professor McGonagall announced that the Mandrakes were ready for cutting. In just a few hours, everyone who had been Petrified would be set right again.

Even so, Harry wasn't about to pass up the chance to talk to Myrtle if the opportunity came up. And it did when Gilderoy Lockhart was escorting them to History of Magic. It did not take much to persuade him to go back to his classroom. Just as Harry separated from the group, however, he ran into McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter, what are you doing?" Harry thought quickly

"I want to go see Daphne." he said, "It's been ages since I saw her." Professor McGonagall stared at him for a moment before speaking in a croaky voice

"Of course" she said and a tear glistened in her eyes "Of course, I realize that this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been…I quite understand. Yes, Mr. Potter, you may go visit Miss Greengrass. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey that you have my permission." Harry nodded and quickly walked away, unable to believe his good luck. He would just drop by the hospital wing for a few minutes and then go to Myrtle's bathroom.

Harry's eyes went wide when he saw a piece of paper in Daphne's hand. After making sure that Madam Pomfrey was not looking, he started working on it. After several tense minutes, he finally got it out. It was a page torn from a library book. When he read it, it was like a light bulb going on in his head.

_It's all starting to make sense now_. Harry still had no idea as to the identity of the attacker, but that did not matter as he now knew what the monster was and how it was getting around. Harry immediately left the hospital wing and headed towards the staff room. Suddenly he heard McGonagall's voice echoing through the corridors.

"_All students are to return to their dormitories at once! All teachers return to the staffroom! Immediately, please!"_

_Oh no!_ Harry thought. _Not another attack!_ Harry reached the staff room and hid himself in the wardrobe. McGonagall explained that Ginny Weasley had been taken by the monster into the Chamber and that they would have to send all the students home. At that very moment, Lockhart burst in and, before he knew it, had been conscripted to go into the Chamber to rescue her.

Lockhart stammered: "V-Very well," he said, "I'll…I'll be in my office, getting…getting ready." With that, Lockhart left the room. McGonagall dismissed the rest of the staff. When the staff room was empty, Harry left and went after Lockhart. He found the Defence teacher rapidly packing.

"Going somewhere, Professor?" Harry smirked.

"Err…well…yes," Lockhart said, "Urgent call…unavoidable…"

"I don't think so," Harry said, raising his wand, "I always knew you were a fraud!" Lockhart merely shrugged and then went for his wand.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Harry said, disarming Lockhart and blasting him across the room. Harry put Lockhart's wand in his pocket.

"What do you want me to do?" Lockhart said, "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," Harry said as he forced Lockhart upright, "_I_ have a pretty good idea where it is and what's inside it. Let's go." Harry marched Lockhart to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Oh, it's you," Myrtle said, "What do you want?"

"To ask you how you died." Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once.

"Oooh, it was terrible," she said, "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked and I was crying. And then, I heard somebody come in. He said something funny…a different language I think…Anyway, he was a boy. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet and then…I died."

"How?"

"No idea," Myrtle said, "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big yellow eyes. My whole body seized up and then I was floating away…and then I came back. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby…"

"Just where did you see the eyes?" Harry impatiently interrupted. Myrtle huffed and pointed at the sink in front of the toilet.

"Somewhere over there." Harry carefully examined the sink and saw that one of the taps had a tiny snake on it.

"That one's never worked." Myrtle said as he tried to turn it. Harry focused on the tiny snake and willing himself to believe that it was alive. He moved his head so that the candlelight made it look as though it were moving.

"_Open up!_" Harry hissed in Parseltongue. Lockhart gaped as the tap shone with a brilliant white light and began to spin. The sink moved and sank out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed.

Harry pushed Lockhart in first and then went after him. Harry found himself on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel and stood, saying "_Lumos_" to provide some light. Just as they came across a giant snake skin, Lockhart tackled him, taking back his wand, though he was holding it backwards.

"The adventure ends here," Lockhart said, "I'll just take this up to the school and say that you tragically lost your mind at the sight of her body. Lockhart raised his wand and yelled

"_Obliviate!_"

Unfortunately, since he was holding the wand backwards, the charm affected him instead of Harry. Harry merely shook his head _He was getting in the way, anyway,_ Harry thought and left a memory less Lockhart behind and reached a solid stone wall on which, two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with emeralds. Harry did not have to imagine that these snakes were real as they looked quite authentic to him.

"_Open._" Harry hissed and the serpents parted as the wall cracked open. Harry walked inside.

Harry found Ginny Weasley lying next to a pond with the diary next to her. There was a person standing over her.

"You're too late Harry Potter," he said, "young Ginny only has minutes to live and then I, Tom Riddle, who would later become Lord Voldemort, the greatest sorcerer in the world will be revived and my second victim will be you."

"You're not." Harry said.

"Not what?" Tom Riddle demanded.

"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," Harry said, "Power isn't the only thing that matters…"

"Power is the _only_ thing that matters!" Tom said, "There is only power and those too afraid to grasp it."

"Then why is your present day self a disembodied spirit?" Harry said, "No Tom, Friendship and loyalty are far more important…" Riddle spat at him.

"Worthless attributes…" he said and paused when he saw a phoenix flying towards them, singing a song that warmed his heart and carrying the Sorting Hat. Riddle began to laugh again as the phoenix dropped the hat at Harry's feat and landed on his shoulder.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his champion? The Sorting Hat and a songbird?" Harry shook his head, the phoenix, whoever it was, wasn't Fawkes. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. Harry picked up the Hat and, without thinking, put his hand in it. He felt his hand close on something metal and smiled.

"No, Tom. This is what Godric Gryffindor sends his heir! Dumbledore is nothing to me!" With that, he pulled his hand out of the Hat. It was holding a silver sword with rubies encrusted in the handle. The words _Godric Gryffindor_ were engraved just below the hilt. The sword felt surprisingly light and easy to handle. Harry thrust it into Tom and it passed right through him. Riddle laughed.

"Is that the best you can do?" Riddle asked. Harry started to go towards the diary but paused when Riddle raised the wand.

"How did you survive? Tell me how?"

"My mother died to save me." Harry simply replied.

"Ahh…yes…yes, that would be a powerful countercharm…I can see it now. There is nothing special about you, after all. I had wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between you and me. Both of us are half-bloods, orphans, descendants of one of the Founders. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even _look_ something alike…but after, all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know." Tom's twisted smile was widening.

"Now let us match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor." With that, Riddle hissed at the stone face of Slytherin.

"_Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four"._ The gigantic stone face was moving. The mouth opened to make a huge black hole. And inside it, something stirred and slithered up from its depths.

Harry hissed in Parseltongue: "_Retreat!"_

Tom merely laughed. "The Basilisk only obeys me, Potter!" he said. Harry backed away until he hit the wall and closed his eyes. The phoenix left his shoulder and took flight. He heard Riddle hiss "_Kill him!"_

The basilisk began moving towards Harry, who began running blindly sideways only to suddenly trip, causing Tom to laugh even harder. Harry suddenly heard a sound and opened his eyes just in time to see the phoenix blind the basilisk.

"NO!" Riddle screamed, "LEAVE THE BIRD, KILL THE BOY! YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM, KILL HIM!" the basilisk swayed, still confused, but no less deadly.

"KILL THE BOY! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! SNIFF…SMELL HIM!"

The basilisk coiled and lunged blindly. Harry dodged and it hit the Chamber wall. The snake lunged again and Harry felt its forked tongue lash his side. He raised his sword in both of his hands. The basilisk lunged yet again and this time Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it into the roof of the serpent's mouth. But, even as warm blood drenched his arm, Harry felt a searing pain just above his elbow. A fang was sinking into his arm and splintered as the basilisk fell sideways. Harry pulled the fang out, but knew that it was too late. He fell to the ground and his vision started going foggy. The phoenix flew up to Harry and began crying on the wound.

Voldemort began gloating about how he had finally defeated Harry Potter and Harry noticed that the pain was starting to leave him and that the Chamber was coming back into focus. Harry looked at his arm and saw no wound.

"Get away, bird!" said Riddle suddenly "Get away from him…I said, _get away_!" Riddle pointed Harry's wand at the phoenix. There was a bang that sounded like a gunshot and the phoenix took flight again.

"Phoenix tears…of course…healing powers…I forgot." Tom looked at Harry.

"But it makes no difference; I prefer it this way, just you and me…" Just then, Harry saw the phoenix drop the diary in Harry's lap. Harry, as if he'd been planning to do it all along, grabbed the fang and stabbed the diary with it. There was a long, piercing scream and ink began spurting out of the diary, covering Harry's hands and flooding the floor. Riddle writhed, twisted, flailed and screamed. And then suddenly, he was gone.

Some time later, Ginny left McGonagall's office with her parent's. McGonagall took Lockhart to the infirmary and Dumbledore turned to Harry. He had no clue how Harry had summoned a phoenix, but he had and the fact that it hadn't been Fawkes concerned him greatly and threatened to ruin his carefully laid plans even more.

Ever since the prophecy had been made, Dumbledore had carefully arranged the circumstances so that both Harry and Neville would qualify and then used memory and compulsion charms to convince the Potters and the Longbottoms to change their Secret-Keepers to people he knew were traitors in order to get the prophecy in motion and had ensured, through Snape, that Voldemort would only know the first half of the prophecy. That part of the plan had worked perfectly.

Voldemort had gone after Harry himself and sent the Lestrange's after Neville. Everything had gone to hell when Sirius had snatched Harry away from Hagrid and Dumbledore now admitted that he had compounded the problem by his repeated attempts to get Sirius's location out of Harry. _I should've anticipated that he would teach Harry Occlumency. That was what had really screwed things up. No matter, I'll just accelerate the portions of my original plan that remain intact._

Dumbledore was not at all pleased by Harry's close relationship with Daphne because she was too strong willed. Ginny Weasley, on the other hand, was perfect for his purposes. Oh, this would be so much simpler if Harry didn't need a romantic interest to kill Voldemort. Unfortunately, that was how Harry's magic worked. He needed love, of any kind, in order to be powerful and the more love he had, the more powerful he was. This was precisely why Dumbledore had wanted Harry to be raised by his muggle relatives. He couldn't afford Harry getting too powerful too quickly because then he'd be hard to get rid of afterwards…

Unfortunately, thanks to Sirius, that was now out of his hands. Then, of course, there's always plan B. Dumbledore, however, was not yet at the stage where he wanted to start using love potions since they didn't actually create love, just a very powerful obsession. Then again, there were ways around even that… Harry interrupted his musings when he spoke.

"Tom said that we were alike, and I guess, in many ways we are. We're both descendants of one of the Founders, both Parselmouths, heck we even look something alike." Harry paused for a moment.

"But, we are also very different. I, unlike him, was raised in an environment of love and caring."

Harry paused to glare at Dumbledore, implying that if he had been at the Dursley's, Harry's childhood probably wouldn't have been so rosy. "And we are also in different Houses and have different ambitions."

"Very good, Harry." Dumbledore reluctantly said. He would've preferred Harry being a little more clueless, but had to admit that brains could be useful, if properly harnessed. "Do you know why the Hat put you in Gryffindor?"

"Because I asked it to."

"Exactly," Dumbledore said, "Our choices define who we are, far more than our abilities."

"Yes," Harry said and suddenly smiled, "And judging by the choices I have seen you make so far, I must say that my opinion of you is…rather low to say the least."

Dumbledore didn't even miss a beat.

"My intentions really were for the best, Harry," he said, "Your protection was absolutely paramount to me…"

"Oh come on, headmaster," Harry said, "If you really were that concerned about my safety, then you would've had Sirius cleared of those ridiculous charges earlier and put his house under the Fidelius charm with you as the Secret-Keeper."

Dumbledore said nothing, realizing that Harry had the upper hand on him at the moment.

"I will kill Voldemort," Harry said as he stood up, "But I will do it under my terms and on my time or not at all." After Harry had left, Dumbledore started writing a letter to the Weasleys.

Dobby was profoundly grateful at being freed – with a sock and the partly destroyed diary, Harry tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing him.

"I'd better go," Harry said, "There's a feast to go to and Daphne should be awake by now."

Dobby smiled and hugged Harry. "Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew," he sobbed, "Farewell, Harry Potter!" Dobby then disappeared with a loud crack and Harry went to the Great Hall. Daphne came running to him and threw her arms around him.

"You solved it!" she screamed, "You solved it!"

"I couldn't have done it without you." Harry replied.

McGonagall then stood and announced that Harry's two hundred points had secured Gryffindor the House Cup for the second year running and that exams were cancelled as a school treat. Many teachers along with the students cheered when Dumbledore said that Lockhart would not be returning the next year. Hagrid then came busting through the door.

"Sorry, I'm late" he said, "the owl that delivered my release got all lost and confused." It was then that Harry noticed Ron tentatively walking towards him.

"I just want to say, thank you for saving my sisters life," Ron said. "She…uh…means a lot to me."

Harry nodded. He hoped that this was a genuine attempt at friendship and not one of Dumbledore's schemes.

"I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to come visit my house over the summer?"

"We'll see." Harry said. One the one hand, he didn't want to turn down Ron's offer if it was genuine and on the other, he needed to be constantly on guard. Ron nodded, thanked Harry again, and walked off.

"Unusual to see him not following Neville around like a lost puppy?" Harry said.

"Well," Daphne said "You're alive and…marked so there's no reason for Dumbledore to promote Neville anymore."

"Which is why I'm worried," Harry said. There was a long pause. Daphne finally broke it with;

"What are you going to name your phoenix?"

Harry looked at the bird perched on his shoulder.

"To be honest, I'm not sure yet," he said, "Also, I'm worried that Hedwig might get jealous."

The phoenix trilled something that, to Harry anyway, sounded like _"She won't be."_

"So, where exactly, did you come from?" Harry asked, "Not that I'm complaining, but…"

"_It is common for a phoenix to bond with a Light Lord,"_ the bird trilled, _"Just as Dark Lords bond with dark creatures, most often serpents, though there have been others. Albus Dumbledore was once a Light Lord, though today he would be best classified as a Grey Lord."_

"Then why is Fawkes still with him?" Daphne asked, apparently also understanding the phoenix.

"_Because a phoenix bond can only be broken by death."_

"I see," Harry said, "But I am not a Light Lord…"

"_Not yet…"_ Harry could've sworn that he heard the phoenix laughing.

"Do you have a name?" he asked

"_Aeled." _The phoenix trilled.

At Platform 9 ¾, Harry bid goodbye to Daphne and then went over to Sirius.

"Where'd you get the phoenix?" Sirius asked.

"It's a long story, I'll explain at home."

Sirius apparated them to his house. Harry then told him, Remus, and Tonks, what had happened, leaving nothing out except his conversation with Aeled. He really wasn't sure what to make of the whole 'Light Lord' business and wanted to keep it a secret for the time being. He could trust Daphne not to tell anyone and she was probably just as baffled as he was. When Harry finished there was a long pause.

Finally, Sirius said "You must really have a pure heart to be able to summon and bond with a phoenix."

"Well that's essentially what Aeled told me." Harry said, earning what looked like an amused glare from the bird.

Please review, with thanks to my beta


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